February 2012 e-Amistad Reports

February 2012

In This Issue

From the Director

Financial Donors

Archives, Library, and Fine Arts Donors

Family Connections and Research Lead to Donations

Volunteers and Interns Assist Center in Many Ways

Center Receives Grant to Process Africana Collections

Robeson Family Member Visits Amistad

Requiem

From the Director

The February edition of our newsletter features the Annual Donor Honor Roll. It is our way of paying special tribute to individuals and organizations for their philanthropic contributions during the prior year. Unrestricted annual monetary support touches every area of the Amistad Research Center's operations, and annual fund donors provide the foundation necessary to achieve excellence and success. Their investments and active participation furnish the resources that allow us to maximize current opportunities, take advantage of emerging possibilities, and maintain a competitive rate of progress with peer institutions.

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the donor lists. Despite our best efforts to avoid errors, we realize that occasional mistakes will occur in producing the donor honor roll. We apologize in advance for inaccurate spellings, omissions, and other errors. If there are questions about any listing, please contact Amistad at (504) 862-3222.

The achievements of the Amistad Research Center historically and for the future depend on the dedication, loyalty, and generosity of many friends and partners. Again, we gratefully acknowledge individual and institutional partners for their selfless contributions and support during the last year. We urge continued involvement and the experience of new ventures and adventures with us. We also solicit the collaboration, important papers, and philanthropy of many additional constituents in the New Year.

Executive Director

Lee Hampton

Financial Donors

Donor Recognition

Clifton H. Johnson Club

$5,000+

Dr. Thomas Wirth in memory of Dr. Clifton H. Johnson

Cinque Club

$1,000+

Edgar John Bullard III

Chicago Friends of Amistad

Paul J. Leaman, Jr.

Ray Palmer

Harriet Tubman Club

$500+

Susan Allen

Kim Boyle

Mattie Brooks

Dr. Janice L. Sumler-Edmond

Lee Hampton

Ora Myles Sheares

Carter G. Woodson Club

$250+

Dr. Rosanne M. Adderley

William H. & Gloria A. Armstrong

Dr. Beverly Wade Hogan

Dr. Andrea G. Jefferson

Sybil Haydel Morial

Wayne Scott Naugle

Dr. Cora A. Presley

Thomas Weissinger

Frederick Douglass Club

$100+

Drs. James J. & Rudine Sims Bishop in memory of Dr. Clifton H. Johnson

Central St. Matthew UCC

DBL Music Ministries, Inc.

Charles Donegan

Dr. Larry Earvin

Marvin E. Ellis

Christopher Harter

Iain Kennedy

Dr. Henry C. Lacey

Irene Ellens & the Lavern Family in memory of William & Haley Newton

Lewis H. Myers

Doris J. Newton in memory of William & Haley Newton

Dr. Lance D. Query

Margaret N. Stevens

Dr. Charles C. Teamer, Sr.

Shirley Porter Washington

Sojourner Truth Club

$50+

James Bishop

Constance Black

Rev. Alice Brown

Leroy Bryant

Betty Campbell

Cabrina D. Dell

Dorothy M. Hall

Dr. Gwendolyn M. Hall

Dr. Louilyn F. & Rev. Dr. James H. Hargett

Millicent Harris

Harold & Gertrude Hill

Marie Judge

Barbara Lee

Sara R. Mayfield

Leiza McKenna

Accordia B. Miller

Katherine Newman

Rev. J. Robert Sandman

Phillis Wheatley Club

$49 and under

Floretta Buford

Sharon Dill-Gibson

Mae Opal Edwards

Brenda Flora

Ellen Gary

LaSandra Gibson

Ellen Gary

Christopher Higginson

Doris Leach

Juanita Parrott

Sheila A. Randle

Denise Holloway Riley

Andrew Salinas

Catherine Schultz

Ann M. Sizemore

Melissa Smith

Eleanor Strickland

Corporate Partner Recognition

Lewis Tappan Club

$50,000 +

Tulane University

United Church of Christ Local Church Ministries

Council on Library and Information Resources

Archives, Library, and Fine Arts Donors

Archives and Manuscripts Donors

Larry Bagneris Papers (1978-2010), 2 linear ft.

donated by Larry Bagneris Jr.

Ronald Chisom Interviews (2009), 4 items

donated by Corinne F. Barnwell

Louise Metoyer Bouise Papers (1980-1992), .2 linear ft.

donated by Anne Bouise Ward

Josephine Gresset Copybook (circa 1810s), 1 item

donated by Albert Nicholas

The Links, Inc., Pontchartrain Chapter Records (1993-2009), 4 linear ft.

donated by Currita Waddy

Alvin J. Schexnider Papers (1970-2002), 1 linear ft.

donated by Alvin J. Schexnider

Marion Fisher Stevenson Papers (1880s-1970s), 1.34 linear ft.

donated by Conchetta White Fulton

Russell L. Stockard Sr. Collection (1956-1999), 11.97 linear ft.

donated by Russell L. Stockard Sr.

Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers (1906-1989), 10.26 linear ft.

donated by Willie Lee Hart

Archives and Manuscripts Donors to Existing Collections

Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., Alpha Beta Omega Chapter Records (2005-2009), 1.34 linear ft.

donated by Conchetta White Fulton

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Collection (2010), 2 items

donated by PamelaJune Anderson

James E. Blackwell Papers (2007-2011), .2 linear ft.

donated by James E. Blackwell

Evelyn Cunningham Papers (1920s-2004), 5 linear ft.

donated by Gigi Freeman

Harold E. Doley Papers (1948-2010), 1.2 linear ft.

donated by Harold E. Doley Jr.

Marvin E. Ellis Collection (2011), .2 linear ft.

donated by Marvin E. Ellis

Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society Records (2000-2003), 2 items

donated by Kelly McNeil Legier

James H. Hargett Papers (1986-1997), 1.5 linear ft.

donated by James & Louilyn Hargett

Wesley and Mary Ellen Hotchkiss Papers (1920s-2006), 5.4 linear ft.

donated by Tannia Hotchkiss

Willie Lee Hart Papers (1933-2011), .2 linear ft.

donated by Willie Lee Hart

William J. Jefferson Papers (1997-2009), 1.34 linear ft.

donated by William J. Jefferson

Roy Lewis Papers (1969-2011), 1 folder

donated by Roy Lewis

The Links, Inc., New Orleans Chapter Records (1975-2011), 1 linear ft.

donated by Andrea G. Jefferson

Louisiana Council on Human Relations Records (1965-2007), 2 linear ft.

donated by James Wilson

Joe Madison Papers (1988-2010), 1 linear ft.

donated by Joe Madison

Ronald E. Mickens Papers (1963-2011), 30.4 linear ft.

donated by Ronald E. Mickens

Darlene Moore Papers (2008-2011), 2 folders

donated by Darlene Moore

Hazel S. Moore Papers (1990-2008), .4 linear ft.

donated by Hazel S. Moore

Marc H. Morial Papers (2010-2011), .4 linear ft.

donated by Marc H. Morial

Hale Smith Papers (1949-2003), .4 linear ft.

donated by Juanita Smith

Albert F. Sperath Collection (2000-2010), .2 linear ft.

donated by Albert F. Sperath

Suane-Duplantier Family Papers (1965-2008), 1 folder

donated by Elizabeth Simmons

United Church Board for Homeland Ministries Records (1986-2000), 1 linear ft.

donated by Hans Holznagel

Library Donors

Rosanne Adderley

Akashic Books

Beverly Jacques Anderson

PamelaJune Anderson

Maegan Parker Brooks

Edgar John Bullard III

Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church

Jim Cason

Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art

Center for Louisiana Studies

Bridget R. Cooks

Aaron L. Day

Blaine Dunlap

Conchetta White Fulton

Lee Hampton

Christopher Harter

Andrea G. and William J. Jefferson

Ro'Bin White Morton

Katherine Newman

Walter M. Perkins

Pontilly Community Association

Andrew Salinas

Joyce A. Smith

Vivian Solar

Edward L. Taylor

Roderick Terry

University of New Orleans, Earl K. Long Library, Louisiana and Special Collections Department

Family Connections and Research Lead to Donations

Prospectus for the Moorhead Improvement Company in Moorhead, Mississippi, donated by Katherine Newman.

Periodically, staff at the Amistad Research Center will receive inquiries from descendents of individuals whose papers are housed at the Center or who were involved with various organizations documented at the Center. One recent inquiry, from Katherine Kincaid Newman, reflects an exceptionally long family affiliation with the American Missionary Association - spanning over a century. From her abolitionist forebears to her father, William Kincaid Newman, former executive vice president of the Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ, we are pleased to continue this relationship. We are also delighted that both Katherine and her father have provided the Center with manuscript and library donations that document the family's connections to American history. Ms. Newman provided this insight into her recent communications with the Center:

When I became interested in my family's history, my father showed me photocopies of a forebear's letters he obtained from the Amistad Research Center about 40 years ago. These letters were written by Daniel Chapman, a Congregational minister in Illinois, to the American Missionary Association describing his work and thoughts as a minister, abolitionist, and temperance advocate in Illinois from 1842 on.

As part of a self-published family history, I decided to annotate the letters because of many unfamiliar people and events. The Amistad Research Center website was helpful, and Andrew Salinas, Reference Archivist, even more so, about sources at the Amistad and elsewhere. He sent copies of archived material at a very reasonable cost, including an article that I'd spent fruitless hours searching for on microfilm.

The American Missionary Association archives catalog, in which I subsequently found letters from two more forebears, is available at the Amistad website. One can't help but be awed at the painstaking job of organizing and typing the entries for the thousands of surviving letters, most from ordinary correspondents such as my family. I deeply appreciate the wisdom and work of the Amistad Research Center for preserving this material.

Not only did Ms. Newman utilize the Center's collections, but she also demonstrated support for Amistad by providing financial assistance and donating additional materials, including a recently published family history. Support such as hers is reward for the efforts of Amistad's staff to become increasingly knowledgeable about the Center's collections and to communicate effectively with researchers.

Volunteers and Interns Assist Center in Many Ways

Student Interns at the Amistad Research Center

Interns Sara Green and Jayla Jones organize collections in the Reading Room

The February issue of e-Amistad Reports typically acknowledges the contributions of donors from the previous year. In this edition, the Center's staff also would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of the many volunteers and interns who donated their time in order to assist the Center with projects and service to Amistad's constituents during 2011, as well as those currently at the Center.

Beryl Hunter, a graduate student in Museum Studies at Southern University of New Orleans, assisted the Center early in 2011 by processing the papers of writer Jason Berry. The Berry papers contain documentation on his role as the Press Secretary for Charles Evers during Evers' gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns in Mississippi during the 1970s.

During the Fall 2011 semester, Scott Naugle, who is pursuing his English MA at Tulane University completed an internship during which he processed two small collections with a focus on African American art and literature. The papers of playwright, poet, and socialite Olivia Ward Bush-Banks are now listed in Amistad's online finding aid database, and the papers of the Barker, Buckner, Phillips Family will soon be posted as well. The latter includes information on the family of Theresa (nee Barker) Woodruff, wife of noted artist Hale Woodruff.

As part of a service-learning component for a course taught by Rosanne Adderley of Tulane's History Department, undergraduates Emma King and Sonya Parker assisted the Center with the digitization of documents from the records of the American Committee on Africa, which will be contributed to the African Activist Archive, as well as the creation of a finding aid for photographs from the Louisiana Weekly photograph collection, which will be online soon.

Ruth Ann Harter, mother of Amistad's Director of Library and Reference Services, Christopher Harter, contributed a number of hours toward various projects, from labeling folders to sorting photographs, and continues to volunteer at the Center. Mrs. Harter has consistently contributed time and effort to Amistad projects in recent years.

Sara Green, a junior at Bennington College in Vermont, recently completed her Field Work Term in New Orleans, during which she spent part of her term at Amistad. Focusing on dance and African American Studies, Sara assisted with the processing of small collections that center around dance and performance. Included were several related to the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, as well as dance-related collections, such as the Elma Moore Booker papers and the papers of sisters and actresses Fredi Washington and Isabel Washington Powell.

Jayla Jones is a junior at Xavier University of Louisiana, majoring in Biology Pre-Med, with a minor in History. Jayla is combining her interests in both fields by processing the records of the Auxiliary of the National Medical Association, which are 11 linear feet and date from approximately 1937-1997. Thanks to her assistance, the Center will be able to make the collection available to members of the Auxiliary when they visit New Orleans for their annual meeting during the summer of 2012.

As previously reported, the Amistad Research Center was selected as a host site for the History Makers of Chicago Fellowship, Mentoring, Training and Placement Institute, which was funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Studies (IMLS). Fellow Felicia Render has spent the last five months working in the areas of collection development, reference services, processing, and preservation. She assists in processing the papers of New Orleans actor and playwright John O'Neal and participates in digitization projects that enhance Amistad's online presence.

The Center's volunteers, interns, and student assistants contribute greatly to Amistad's efforts while gaining insight into the archival profession. Amistad provides mutually beneficial opportunities for volunteers and interns by structuring focused projects that provide valuable experience and contribute to the Center's overall mission and progress.

Center Receives Grant to Process Africana Collections

Publication from the American

Committee on Africa records.

The Cataloging Hidden and Special Collections Program of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) recently awarded $238,200 to The Amistad Research Center to support the archival processing of the records of The American Committee on Africa and The Africa Fund. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the three-year project will inventory, catalog, and open for research two related archival collections that document efforts to end apartheid and colonial governments in Africa, as well as the emergence of independent African nations.

The American Committee on Africa (1953-2001) and The Africa Fund (1966-2001) worked to educate Americans on the legitimacy of African liberation movements and to assist victims of colonial oppression in Africa. The collections consist of 520 linear feet of publications and records dating from 1966-2001. The processing of these records will expand access to materials that document human rights and political activities within many African countries, U. S. relations with African governments, divestment campaigns, and anti-apartheid and pro-African liberation movements.

The Center is honored to receive the generous support of CLIR and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Look for project updates in future issues of e-Amistad Reports, as well as on the Center's blog and Facebook page.

Robeson Family Member Visits Amistad

Susan Robeson reviews letters of Eslanda Goode Robeson from the Countee Cullen Papers

Followers of Amistad's blog may recall an article in May 2011 by Reference Archivist Andrew Salinas regarding Andrew's discovery of photographs believed to depict Paul Robeson during his high school athletics days. The photographs are part of the papers of Robeson's classmate and teammate Stanley Moreland Douglas.

In an update to that blog post, the Center was fortunate to recently host a visit by author, filmmaker, and television producer Susan Robeson, who is the granddaughter of Paul Robeson. While at the Center, Ms. Robeson viewed the photographs from the Douglas papers and confirmed that a young Paul Robeson is indeed depicted. Ms. Robeson received a tour of Amistad and not only learned more about the Center's collections, but discussed with staff the Paul Robeson Foundation's efforts to preserve, extend, and celebrate the legacy of her grandfather. To aid the Foundation, the Center is currently compiling an annotated inventory of its Robeson-related materials, which are found throughout Amistad's collections and include letters, playbills, photographs, newspaper clippings, and flyers for performances.

The discovery of the photographs and subsequent follow-up in hosting Susan Robeson is exemplary of the staff's proactive efforts to maximize knowledge and use of Amistad's existing collections and to ensure timely and effective communications with researchers and donors.

Requiem

Williams preparing for the role of Mimi in La Boheme, 1947.

The Amistad Research Center's staff was saddened to learn of the passing of pioneering opera diva Camilla Williams, who died at her home in Bloomington, Indiana, on January 29, 2012. Williams was a lyric soprano who was credited with being the first African American woman to hold a regular position with a leading United States opera company. Her accolades were many and well-deserved, but she was best known for her performances in the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and was a protégé of the creator of the role, Geraldine Farrar. Williams toured internationally throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa beginning in 1950. After retiring from opera in 1971, she taught at Brooklyn College, Bronx College, and Queens College before becoming the first African American professor of voice at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. A tribute to Williams can be found on the school's website.

In 2011, Williams' autobiography entitled The Life of Camilla Williams, African American Classical Singer and Diva was published by The Edwin Mellen Press. According to Amistad's Director of Library and Reference Services, Christopher Harter, Williams was thrilled to see the publication of what she proudly called "my book." "Ms. Williams and I spoke on the telephone last year and she was pleased that her autobiography had recently been published, but she wanted me to make sure Amistad had a copy in its library!" Not only is the Amistad Research Center pleased to own a copy of the book, but the Camilla Williams papers are one of the premier collections at the Center. The collection not only provides a rich view into Williams' life and accomplishments, but it is an amazing resource for the study of African American classical and operatic singers.