From conversations with Bill Cosby to a visit by former UN Ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young to a series of public events commemorating the 50th anniversary of public school desegregation in New Orleans, the Center showcased its outstanding collections to diverse audiences during 2010.

(l-r): Dr. Bill Cosby discusses the Beyond the Blues catalog with Executive Director of NOMA John Bullard and Executive Director Lee Hampton during a visit to the exhibition.

Amistad and the New Orleans Museum of Art closed out the successful run of Beyond the Blues: Reflections of African America in the Fine Arts Collection of the Amistad Research Center during the weekend of July 9-11 with children's art activities, music, film screenings, and more. The exhibition and its accompanying catalog continue to garner interest from scholars, art lovers, and venues. The Center will continue to explore its art-related holdings in 2011 with an exhibition on Richmond Barthe, whose papers and works of art are held at Amistad.

l-r: Quo Vadis Breaux, Kalamu ya Salaam, and John O'Neal share their memories of fellow writer Tom Dent.

The completion of the Tom Dent Papers provided two opportunities for friends and family of this noted poet, playwright, and oral historian to celebrate his life and work. July saw the opening of the exhibition Tom Dent: A Heavy Trip Through the South and a panel discussion about Tom by fellow writers John O'Neal, Kalamu ya Salaam, and Quo Vadis Breaux. From old-time friends to young students who were introduced to Tom's work, the evening was filled with food, drink, stories, poems, remembrances, and laughter. Photographs from the evening can be found on Amistad's Facebook page.

Rev. and Mrs. Andrew Young review a display of the Daisy F. Young papers at the Center.

The celebration of Tom and his many friendships continued when Amistad and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation partnered to sponsor a September 8th talk by former UN ambassador and civil rights leader Rev. Andrew Young. Rev. Young spoke on growing up in New Orleans with Tom Dent and their shared struggles in the pursuit of civil rights. His talk gave a personal view of their friendship, and touched upon Tom's influence on Rev. Young's civil rights work. Rev. Young was also given an opportunity to view the papers of his mother, Daisy F. Young, which are housed at the Center.

Dr. Clarence Holmes recalls his personal remembrances of integrating Warren Easton High School in 1968.

 

November 14th was the 50th anniversary of the beginning of public school desegregation in New Orleans. On that date in 1960, four young girls, Ruby Bridges, Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost, and Leona Tate integrated two formerly all-White elementary schools. To commemorate this event, the Center hosted the exhibition Through a Crowd, Bravely: The 50th Anniversary of Public School Desegregation in New Orleans. Amistad partnered with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Louisiana Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice, and the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to present a series of public programs. In October, Amistad hosted essayists and Southern University faculty Cynthia Levy and Clarence Holmes. Dr. Levy's essay discussed the role of New Orleans' Jewish community in the desegregation movement, especially around the time of the integration of William Frantz and McDonogh No. 19 elementary schools in November 1960. Dr. Holmes' essay provided his personal remembrances of integrating Warren Easton Senior High School in 1968. 

l-r: Al Butler, Gail Stripling, Herschel Garner, Leona Tate, Tessie Williams, and Charlie Burks

 

The following month saw the reunion of Gail Stripling, Tessie Williams, and Leona Tate, who integrated McDonogh No. 19, with retired Deputy U.S. Marshals Herschel Garner, Al Butler, and Charlie Burks, who assisted with the integration efforts at McDonogh No. 19 and William Frantz. Having not seen each other since November 1960, the six individuals took part in a well-attended panel discussion that highlighted the triumphs and emotions that accompanied their efforts many years ago. Footage of the panel will be available online after the first of the year.

 

 

 

As the Amistad Research Center and its staff look forward to 2011, we would like to thank all of our supporters and community partners who helped to make 2010 an exciting and engaging year.

Amistad's audiovisual holdings include oral history interviews, musical performances, and other recordings in a variety of formats.

As the Amistad Research Center looks toward the new year, the Center's staff is pleased to announce that Amistad has received funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) to identify and appraise the Center's substantial audiovisual holdings. To aid in this goal, Amistad welcomes our newest staff member, Brenda Flora, who brings extensive knowledge and experience working with audiovisual collections at the British Universities Film and Video Council's Newsfilm Online Project and the BBC, as well as library/archival experience from Tulane University's Recovery Center and the University of New Orleans.   

Approximately one quarter of the Center's archival collections contain some form of sound and/or moving image recordings. This project will allow for unprecedented access to these materials at Amistad, which are of increasing interest to researchers while at the same time facing increased risk due to technical obsolescence and physical deterioration as outlined in a recent publication sponsored by the Library of Congress.

The Center's audiovisual collections are of great significance regionally, nationally, and internationally. Highlights include: the Kim Lacy Rogers-Glenda Stevens Oral History Collection, which chronicles the experience of New Orleans' leaders in the Civil Rights Movement; the Tom Dent Papers, which contain hundreds of interviews with civil rights leaders in Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as the personal narratives of those most closely affiliated with the development of the twentieth century New Orleans jazz aesthetic; the American Committee on Africa Archives and the George Houser Film Collection, which chronicle African nationalist movements and the United States' relation with Africa; the Saddest Days Oral History Collection, which represents one of the more substantive oral history collections in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; the J. Susannah Norton Papers and the Sybil Kein Papers, which document Caribbean and Creole folklore and endangered languages in North America and the Caribbean; and the Ed Pincus Film Collection, which consists of the raw film footage shot in 1960s Mississippi in the creation of two significant civil rights movement documentaries.

The Center also houses collections with substantial field recordings, performances, and interviews with some of the country's most notable musicians. These include the personal papers of the following: Harold Battiste, who worked with musicians such as Sam Cooke, Sonny and Cher, and Dr. John, and founded the first African American musician-owned record company, All for One (AFO) Records; operatic singer Carol Brice; Anne Wiggins Brown, the original Bess in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess; William Warfield, who also gained notoriety in Porgy and Bess; Ellis Marsalis Jr., patriarch of America's most noted jazz family; and famed composer and arranger of American gospel and spirituals Moses Hogan. Various collections of individual or family papers, such as the Robert and Lillie Mae Green Papers, include amateur film footage documenting the daily lives of middle-class African American families, which provides glimpses of social and economic factors in the lives of these families.

The NHPRC grant funds phase two of a three-phase project undertaken by Amistad to document its audiovisual holdings and the implementation of a formal preservation and reformatting program at the Center. The Center is also happy to announce that it recently received a second grant that will aid this project. The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Amistad a Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions, which will allow the Center to purchase environmental monitoring equipment and supplies to rehouse portions of its audiovisual collection. We look forward to providing updates as we continue this project to provide greater access to Amistad's sound and moving image materials.

Amistad's staff wishes to extend its appreciation to the NHPRC and NEH for this opportunity.

Margaret Burroughs (1915?-2010)

The Amistad Research Center, along with the rest of the archives and museum community, mourns the loss of Margaret Burroughs.  Born in Saint Rose, Louisiana, Burroughs dedicated her life and career to the creation of cultural opportunities for African Americans and championed the historical contributions of African Americans. 

Burroughs enjoyed a full career as an art educator first at a high school and later at Wilson Junior College, but she constantly sought to draw more attention to African American art, history, and culture.  Burroughs eventually founded what was initially called the Ebony Museum of Negro History in 1961, and she ran this - the country's first independent museum devoted to the preservation of African and African American culture - out of her home.  This museum grew steadily and in 1993 became the DuSable Museum of African American History and Culture.  Burroughs also, with Charles H. Wright, founded the Association of African American Museums in 1967. 

Although Burroughs was also a celebrated poet, it was as a pioneering museologist that she best answered the question posed in her poem "What Shall I Tell My Children Who are Black?" The Amistad Research Center is honored to house examples of Burroughs' artwork and writings as part of its collections.

Evelyn Cunningham (1916-2010)