In July of 2004, I made my first visit to the Amistad Research Center.  I had been pursuing a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Binghamton University in New York, and in the middle of that venture, had decided to add Music History and Literature to earn a double master's degree.  Having recently discovered and fallen in love with Moses Hogan's choral arrangements of spirituals, and then learning about his sudden death at age 45, I decided to write my master's thesis on his life and music. It was no small task, and the time I spent at the Center was invaluable.

The fact that Moses was born, raised, and spent most of his adult life in New Orleans was attractive to me because I had relatives on my mother's side from New Orleans and its surrounds.  Every four years or so, when we were growing up, she piled us three kids into the car to travel down South to visit.  Being raised in "Wonder Bread" Ohio, I looked forward to those exotic southern journeys, especially visiting the New Orleans that was so fascinating and full of life, albeit a bit intimidating.  Many things about New Orleans--the sounds, the colors, the smells and the energy--had made a deep impression on me, and I was excited to be returning.

When I began my thesis, I wrote to Moses' mother, Gloria T. Hogan, to express my condolences and to let her know of my intentions of writing about Moses.  To my surprise, she telephoned me within a day of receiving my letter, and we struck up a friendship that exists to this day.  Gloria, still very fresh in her grief, told me that she and her husband had donated her son's papers to the Amistad Research Center.  After that, I lined up housing at the Dominican Conference Center which is about a seven-minute walk to Amistad--perfect for someone who enjoys walking.

Not having been to New Orleans for close to 30 years, I had no idea what to expect, yet I was filled with much more anticipation than trepidation.  Any fears I had were relieved when I entered the grand Tilton Hall, turned right and went through the glass doors into the quiet dignity of the Amistad Research Center. The attractive set-up of the researchers' tables, the bookshelves and the carefully chosen art work spread around the room was inviting and inspired me to get right to work.  The staff helped me to feel comfortable and let me know that they wished to accommodate all of my needs. 

The Moses Hogan papers had been recently acquired and an initial inventory had been taken by a few interns, but the collection had not been processed.  It was truly a privilege that they let me work with an unprocessed collection, but Mrs. Hogan was supporting my efforts, and she knew that I had a time limit.    

During that first trip, I had only enough time to look through what I thought was most of Hogan's working papers.  Because my graduate advisor back home was anxious for me to finish my thesis, after my one week of 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. days at the Center, I decided that I had seen enough to finish it, and I graduated in May of 2005 with my double degree.

Even though I finished my thesis, the fact that I did not see everything in the collection bothered me, and since I received encouragement from former professors to re-work the thesis into a book, I decided to return to New Orleans.  I was not able to visit the Center in 2005, although I did come to New Orleans and during the course of that visit, I happily hand-delivered a copy of my thesis to the Hogan family. And then Katrina happened late that summer.

Many of the friends I had made during my time in New Orleans lost everything (including the Hogans).  Lots of prayers were said, and people received help and coped and started to get back on their feet.  I was overjoyed to hear that the Amistad collections had not been damaged in the storm, and I returned again last summer and this past summer.

So why did I use "The Gospel According to Moses" in my title?  Many answers lie in Hogan's collection at the Amistad Research Center.  Moses is revealing himself to be a man of many facets, talents, and stubborn determination.  The things that I knew about Moses before visiting the Center--that he has sold more than a million copies of his arrangements of Negro spirituals, that he studied piano at Oberlin and Juilliard and won major competitions, that he was a gifted teacher and entrepreneur, to name a few--have been confirmed by what I have found in the Collection, and there is much more there that I think will be important in the future study of the music of New Orleans during the period that Moses lived.  Piecing together the parts of Moses' life tells a story of love of music, of some failure and much success, and of spreading the good news of the Spirituals, that the Spirituals are for everybody, for the hope and healing of the world.

I now embark on the journey of grant writing to try to enable me to spend more time in New Orleans, and I will in turn help to process the Moses Hogan papers at the Center for use by future historians.   I am thankful to Mr. Lee Hampton and Mrs. Brenda Square for their help and encouragement, and I know that I am in good company on my travels with the talented staff and administration of the Amistad Research Center.

"The Gospel According to Moses" was first used in 1996 as a title for a newspaper article by Brook Turner, a reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald, who interviewed Hogan when the Moses Hogan Chorale was performing at the World Choral Symposium taking place in Sydney.

Theresa Lee-Whiting

MM, Music History and Literature and Choral Conducting, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY

Adjunct Lecturer in Music, Binghamton University

The Amistad Research Center was delighted to host one of its youngest scholars ever.  Theoclaire Domini Lawton, age 13 weeks, accompanied her mother Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  Theo, remarkably quiet, attentive and adhering to excellent researcher etiquette,  was frequently distracted by Amistad's director, in whose arms she spent quite a bit of time during her three-day visit.  

WOL-AM Talk Radio and XM Satellite Radio star Joe Madison received the first annual Sharon L. Harrison Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service by a radio talk show host.  Madison was presented with this special recognition and honored by his colleagues at the Freedom of Speech Luncheon, which was part of the June 2007 New Media Seminar in New York.  The Washington, DC, morning personality received recognition for his lifesaving work on behalf of the people of Sudan and Darfur, where he has literally saved countless lives. 

Madison began his quest to aid the people of this troubled African region more than seven years ago after watching slavery and other genocidal atrocities in Sudan featured on Tony Brown's Journal on PBS.  The issue was disturbing enough for the civil rights activist to travel to the area for an investigative look.  The conflict was generally ignored by the press and considered of no consequence by both the eastern and western leaders of the world.  Joe found the worst cases of suffering imaginable, and he was especially appalled by the enslaving of people in Southern Sudan.

From his radio show on WOL-AM, Joe raised money to buy the freedom of slaves in Sudan.  Thirty-five dollars bought the freedom of one person and often premiums were demanded for goats which cost more than women and children.  Madison's audience contributed tens of thousands of dollars.  He was able to free between 7,000-8,000 people from money raised over the course of two visits.

Joe Madison's activism did not stop with his fight against human slavery.  He joined a coalition to bring pressure on the U. S. Government, which resulted in the passage of the Sudan Peace Act of 2002 and the first Congressional declaration of genocide in Darfur in 2004.  He successfully organized a divestment campaign to influence universities not to invest in companies that had business ties in Sudan.  Madison raised thousands of dollars for "Sacks of Hope".  These survival kits were given to former slaves and refugees returning to their villages in Southern Sudan.  They contained mosquito nets, seeds to plant crops, plastic sheeting for tops of huts, fishing hooks, blankets, water containers, cooking pans, and allowed one family of six to survive for at least three months.  

Born in 1931, Vivian Ellis grew up in a world devoted to caring and helpfulness and inspired by religion.  Her father, the Rev. Aaron Ellis, was pastor of Greater Rose Hill Baptist Church in Uptown New Orleans, where she was a public school graduate and remained in the city to attend Dillard University.  Vivian translated her deep sense of social responsibility into her chosen profession.  She studied nursing at Dillard, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree and Registered Nurse certification. She remained at Dillard for an additional two years as a teaching assistant and enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) for additional coursework. At that time, she was among the first African Americans to enroll at LSU. 

Vivian Ellis left New Orleans to accept a position at the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, California, and later as instructor of nursing at San Joaquin Community College School of Nursing.  After more studies and intense activities in national and international associations, she traveled to Europe in 1960, and settled in Munich. 

Finding employment as a civilian nurse at the U. S. military hospital, it was in Munich where Ms. Ellis started to give serious thought to painting.  The artist's plan to remain only two years in Europe changed in favor of adopting a second country and gaining exposure to formal instruction in various art techniques including etchings and monotypes.  For several years, she worked as a nurse but used every spare moment to paint and concentrate on the arts.  She never lost contact with her dear New Orleans, and she continues to visit regularly.  The impressions that she gathers have always stimulated artistic creativity which dominates as the main subjects of her work; dynamic New Orleanians playing music, dancing, going to church and to other social outings.

Vivian Ellis paints women who "style" themselves to go to church on Sunday (In Defense of the Church Hat, 1998).  She held fascination for spectacular hairstyles of young Black women of the New Orleans street scene (The Hair in Styling, 1998).  That street scene during Mardi Gras presented impressions of Black people dressed like Native Americans (Masked Indian Couple, 2000; Good Fellows, 2000).  Ms. Ellis recounts that through the years, she has had about forty one-person shows; finished 412 oils; 534 acrylics; and 66 etchings. She has received numerous awards across the European continent.

Ms. Ellis said, "I learned about the prestigious Amistad collections some years ago, and I have done my best to preserve original documents of my work, including correspondence, catalogs, journals, etc. I am grateful to the Amistad Research Center for this permanent record that is accessible to interested persons in Europe and around the world and yet remain available to inquirers in my native New Orleans."

The Tulane Law School held its annual diversity reception at the Amistad Research Center on September 18, 2007.  Welcoming remarks were given by the Honorable Karen Wells Roby (Class of 1987), Dean of the Law School Lawrence Ponoroff, and Center Director Lee Hampton.

In conjunction with the reception, Chris Harter, Amistad Reference Associate, presented a special exhibition entitled "This Case is Exciting..." - Legal and Judicial Holdings at the Amistad Research Center. The exhibit included letters concerning the Amistad Case, an 1893 pamphlet published by the Citizens Committee that challenged the Louisiana Separate Car Act, photos of the 1960 desegregation of public schools in New Orleans, letters and documents from the papers of A.P. Tureaud, Julius W. Waring and George L. Ruffin, as well as materials documenting the American Missionary Association's support of migrant laborer rights.

The Amistad Research Center is pleased to announce that it has received a grant along with the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, and the River Road African American Museum to preserve and expand accessibility to the fine art and folk art collections, as well as original source materials, at those institutions.  The Partnership for Preserving Cultural Heritage and Expanding Visual Access: A Katrina Recovery Project also supports the collaborative efforts of the Amistad Research Center, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, and the River Road African American Museum to preserve the cultural heritage of Southeast Louisiana and maintain meaningful relationships with supportive members who are displaced from the region.

As part of the grant, the Amistad Research Center will expand access to the Aaron Douglas Collection, comprised of 270 works of art by 54 African American masters of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  The Center will develop an online exhibition showcasing portions of this outstanding collection.  The project will also enable the development of a second online exhibition highlighting the Center's photographic holdings.  Images selected for this exhibition shot at popular and familiar venues in the New Orleans area will appeal to displaced residents and non-locals alike who are familiar with the city and its rich cultural traditions.  Subjects of frequently requested images, such as the Mardi Gras Indians, Free People of Color, New Orleans Second Lines and the Ninth Ward, will be included.

Mary Elizabeth Winsdom (Betty) -- Activist and Extraordinary Citizen

Sadness does not begin to capture the emotion felt by the Amistad family when learning about the passing of long-time board member Betty Wisdom.  She died of complications from cancer on September 22, 2007 at Ochsner Medical Center.  She was 76.

Mary Elizabeth Wisdom, always known affectionately as Betty, was a lifelong resident of New Orleans.  In addition to dedicated service on Amistad's board, Betty held many positions on boards and committees throughout the city.  Because she preferred to accomplish much of her work behind the scenes eschewing official recognition, she was unknown to a large, grateful public.  However, in 1994, she received the Times Picayune Loving Cup in recognition of her selfless, wide-ranging efforts to the lives of New Orleanians without expectation of public note or material reward.  

Betty Wisdom began a prominent role as civil rights activist in the 1960s.  Her activism cost her job as writer and reporter for the Orleans Parish School Board's radio station.  She quit because the system did not permit employees to advocate for school desegregation.  When the state legislature debated closing New Orleans' schools rather than integrating them, she testified before the legislature and protested against their efforts.

Ms. Wisdom was a director of Save Our Schools (SOS), a non-profit organization chartered on April 26, 1960 by a group of concerned parents and citizens "to further, by all proper and legitimate means, the continuation of a statewide system of free public education."  They were dedicated to the task of keeping the public schools open by discouraging "white flight" from the system.  Betty and other SOS members established a car pool to transport white children to the schools each morning.  They escorted the few white children whose parents kept them in the city's first two integrated schools between their homes and the schools, and encouraged other white families to send their children to the integrated schools.  They suffered verbal taunts and physical intimidation at the hands of the angry crowds of white people outside the schools, and had to obscure their license plates to prevent unruly segregationists from getting their phone numbers and harassing them with threatening phone calls.  They were forced to brave criticism and were ostracized by neighbors and friends.

Betty's Uncle, John Minor Wisdom, was a judge on the 5^th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which issued many rulings that helped end segregation of the schools in New Orleans and throughout the South.  President Lyndon Johnson appointed Betty secretary of the Louisiana Civil Rights Commission and New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu appointed her to the city's Human Relations Committee.

Ms. Wisdom was a member of the Audubon Park Commission for 23 years, serving as chair from 1976-1981. She is credited with saving the city zoo, setting it on course to attain the nationally acclaimed status that it enjoys today.  She convinced neighbors who were opposed to renovation to change their opposition and won public support for badly needed improvements.   

John T. Scott -- Proficient Artist and Educator

John T. Scott (6/30/1940 - 9/1/2007), proficient artist and educator, died at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.  He succumbed to several years of suffering from pulmonary fibrosis and the surgical attempts to overcome the disease.  Mr. Scott, a native New Orleanian and Xavier University professor since 1965, is internationally renowned for his polyrhythmic, colorful patterned prints, painting and kinetic sculpture.  The gates to the New Orleans Museum of Art and other large scale abstract sculptures in Woldenberg Park, City Park, and De Saix Circle are distinguished examples of his work.

Scott graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1958, received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1962, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in 1965.  In 1983, he studied in New York with internationally known sculptor George Rickey; in 1992, he received a prestigious John D. MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship ($315,000) in recognition of his work.

Scott, who grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, felt responsible to speak for his community.  He said that he wanted "young black kids to realize that...if that guy is from the Lower Ninth Ward down by Desire (projects) and he can do that, then I can do that."

Professionally, however, Scott felt that despite his dedication to African American themes, the label "African American artist" did not accurately apply to him.  He believed that his work in kinetic media logically classified him with the kinetic sculptors.  He maintained that he had more in common with George Rickey and Alexander Calder, white sculptors, who like himself, incorporated moving parts into their work.

Hurricane Katrina caused Mr. Scott to evacuate to Houston, and his eastern New Orleans studio was badly damaged by the storm and flood waters.  His failing health prevented him from returning to New Orleans, and in 2006 he underwent two double lung transplant surgeries in Houston.  While he was disabled, thieves broke into his storm-ravaged studio, stealing machinery and several sculptures.

Scott remained an innovator in a variety of artistic media to the end of his life, and he remained loyal to his native New Orleans, which he described as "the only city where if you listen, the sidewalks will speak to you."