Center Receives Grant to Process Africana Collections

Pamphlet 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.

Posted by Christopher Harter

(Image from the American Committee on Africa Records. May not be used without permission.)

Papers of Sisters Document Entertainment Careers and Activism



Fredi Washington (second from right)
with Dorothy Maynor, Canada Lee,
Fredric March, and Judge Hubert T. Delany
during a 1943 YMCA-sponsored radio
broadcast on African American support
for the war effort.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1900s, sisters Fredi and Isabel Washington went on to famed stage, film, and musical careers in New York City during the 1920s through the 1940s.  As two of the nine children born to Robert T. and Harriet Walker Ward Washington, Fredi and Isabel attended school at St. Elizabeth's Convent in Pennsylvania following the death of their mother. Fredi eventually moved to Harlem to live with her grandmother and was followed by Isabel, where both began show business careers that would bring them to the forefront of New York City nightlife and to audiences beyond. Both would eventually retire from the entertainment industry and devote themselves to bettering the lives of African Americans.

The Amistad Research Center is proud to house the papers of both women, which provide glimpses into the lives of each, African Americans on stage and in film, and the intersection of entertainment and civil rights.The finding aids to the Fredi Washington Papers and the Isabel Washington Powell Papers were recently added to the Center's online finding aid database. Both contain correspondence, photographs, news clippings, as well as other documents. The Fredi Washington Papers also contain a number of materials related to fellow actor Paul Robeson, with whom she started in stage and film productions. Likewise, the Isabel Washington Powell Papers also contain information about Adam Clayton Powell Jr, to whom she was married for twelve years.


Isabel Washington with Ralph 
Theodore and James Stark in a
production of "Singin' the Blues,"
circa 1931.

Fredi Washington began her career in the early 1920s as a chorus dancer in Nobble Sissle and Eubie Blake's Shuffle Along. She toured Europe with Al Moiret as part of the dance team Fredi and Moiret before returning to the United States in 1928. Her first film role was in Duke Ellington's short sound feature, Black and Tan Fantasy. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, she starred in numerous films. However, her best known role was that of Peola Johnson in Imitation of Life (1934). Washington's Caucasian features mirrored those of Peola, leading some to speculate that Washington, like her film character, passed for white during her life. However, Washington was a strong advocate of film rolls that did not demean African American actors and actresses. During her career, she was involved with a number of organizations that fought for the rights of African American entertainers.

Like her sister, Isabel Washington Powell starred in a number of stage performances during the 1920s and 1930s, including roles in 'Harlem," "Bamboola," and "Singin' the Blues." Following her marriage to Adam Clayton Powell Jr in 1933, she left show business. Married to Powell Jr. for twelve years, she assisted him in his activist efforts. Following their divorce, she eventually worked as a school teacher and social services worker in the New York City school system.

Together, these two collections provide a fascinating look at African American society and entertainment during the early to mid 20th century, and highlight two outstanding women who contributed greatly to both.

Posted by Christopher Harter

(Images from the Fredi Washington Papers and the Isabel Washington PowelPapers. May not be reproduced without permission.)

Interns Assist Center in Increasing Access to Archival Collections

Interns Sara Green and Jayla Jones
organizing archival collections in
Amistad's Reading Room.

The February issue of Amistad's quarterly newsletter acknowledges the contributions of donors from the previous year. The 2012 edition will also feature an article on the volunteers and interns who continue to donate their time in order to assist the Center with projects and service to Amistad's constituents. As a preview, we'd like to highlight Amistad's recent interns, Sara Green of Bennington College and Jayla Jones of Xavier University of Louisiana. Both are contributing 100 volunteer hours as part of their internships and have already assisted the Center in providing greater access to its collections.

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. At Bennington, Sara's work centers around Black consciousness -- its definition, implications, and applications -- and she is pursuing this interest through a combination of work including identity and performance politics. Focusing on dance and African American Studies, Sara assisted with the processing of several small collections that center around dance and performance. Her initial collection, the Elma Moore Booker papers, documents the first African American woman to own a dance studio in New Orleans. Sara also processed a number of collections related to Mardi Gras Indians, including the Maurice Martinez papers and the Guardians of the Flame collection. All three collections now have full finding aids in the Center's finding aid database, and a finding aid for the papers of New Orleans-based photographer Christopher West, who has chronicled the Mardi Gras Indian tradition in his work, will soon be available. Thanks to Sara's help, the papers of sisters and actresses Fredi Washington and Isabel Washington Powell will also be online in the near future.

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. The Auxiliary was founded in August 1936 as the Women's Auxiliary of the National Medical Association with the purpose of encouraging "a better relationship between families of men in the allied sciences as well as render service to their communities." The Auxiliary grew substantially over the years and, in 1975, restructured to allow spouses of female physicians. Jayla's work at Amistad is centered on organizing the 11 linear feet of records of the Auxiliary, which 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.

Both Sara and Jayla have contributed greatly to Amistad's efforts while gaining insight into the archival profession, which represents the Center's efforts to provide mutually beneficial opportunities for interns and volunteers by structuring focused projects that provide valuable experience and contribute to the Center's overall mission.

Camilla Williams: African American Opera Pioneer (1919-2012)

Camilla Williams with her
mentor Geraldine Farrar
during Williams' debut in
Madama Butterfly, May 1946.

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, this past Sunday. 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.

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

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.

Flyer for the NAACP's Freedom Spectacular
with Camilla Williams listed as a performer, 1964.

Posted by Christopher Harter

(Images from the Camilla Williams Papers. May not be reproduced without permission.)

Current exhibition at Amistad: Athletics and the African American Experience

At Amistad, we’re starting off this Olympics year fittingly – with an in-house exhibition on athletics within the wider context of American social history.  The exhibition showcases correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, etc. on great athletes such as Jesse Owens, Althea Gibson, and Jackie Robinson; the Negro Leagues; the collection on Southwestern Athletic Conference sports of noted sportswriter Russell Stockard; and, perhaps lesser known, proposed boycotts of the 1968 Summer Olympics that influenced John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s famed Black Power salute protest atop the podium in Mexico City.

Well before the 1968 Olympics, a global boycott of the forthcoming games began to organize in response to the International Olympic Committee’s vote to readmit South Africa into the Olympic games. The American Committee on Africa helped to spearhead a campaign promoting a mass boycott of the games based on the International Olympic Committee’s decision, which seems in stark opposition to the Olympic Charter’s ban on racially discriminatory practices. After this widespread public outcry, the IOC ultimately reversed its position, and the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games went on as scheduled.

(Hall of Famers in their respective sports, Joe Morgan and Jerry West are among the signatories in the Amistad exhibition.)
 

In a year which saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the violent Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the ascendance of George Wallace as a viable presidential candidate, it is no surprise that the 1968 Olympics were also highly politicized by American athletes.   

The possibility of an Olympic boycott by African American athletes emerged on the campus of San Jose State University, where sociologist Harry Edwards decried the accomplishments of Black athletes amidst wider social inequity: “What value is it to a black man to win a medal if he returns to a hell in Harlem.”  Lee Evans, John Carlos, and Tommie Smith – all members of the SJSU track team – were among the most vocal of the boycott’s supporters.

 

(Tommie Smith and John Carlos, among the signatories above from the San Jose State University track team, seized their moment months later atop the Olympic podium after placing first and second, respectively, in the 200m sprint.)

Though the threat of boycotts to the Olympics and other protests amidst racism in America and around the world never manifested in a widespread boycott, they did foreshadow one of the most poignant, overtly political, statements ever made in a sporting context.  The petition above demonstrate that Smith and Carlos’ statement of defiance – raising their fists and refusing the look at the American flag as the “Star-Spangled Banner” played – was not a spontaneous, impulsive reaction.

The contributions of Smith and Carlos, as well as many sporting greats before them, are chronicled in the exhibition at Amistad.  The exhibition, "More Than Just a Game: Athletics and the African American Experience," will be on display in the Center's reading room and exhibition gallery through March 29.

Posted by Andrew Salinas

(Images from the American Committee on Africa records, Amistad Research Center. May not be reproduced without permission.)

The Origins of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the staff of the Amistad Research Center would like to highlight one of the recently processed collections at the Center, the Lloyd Davis Papers, which provide insight into the foundation of the upcoming holiday.

Lloyd Davis (1928-2007) was a proponent of equal opportunities, a civil rights activist, a fair housing advocate, and longtime senior adviser for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. He also served as the first vice president and chief operating officer of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change and as Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.

Lloyd Davis, undated photograph

After graduating from Chicago's Tilden Technical High School in 1946, Davis enlisted in the United States Army. He was assigned to the 6th Armed Division at Fort Leonard, Missouri, where he was responsible for the administration of five companies, the supervision of a staff of non-commissioned officers, and the administration of the first program of racial integration at Fort Leonard.

Shortly after graduating from De Paul University, Davis enrolled in graduate school at Loyola University of Chicago in 1958. After graduating from Loyola, he accepted a position as Assistant Director of the New Haven Redevelopment Agency. He also served as the Director of the Dixwell Redevelopment and Renewal Project; the project mission was to relocate 928 families and demolish and renovate 382 structures in New Haven, Connecticut. Davis began his career with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1965 as an Intergroup Relations Specialist. His primary duties included the selection and planning of urban renewal areas, as well as determining the impact of urban renewal projects on cities.

In 1979, Davis became the first vice president and chief operating officer of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which had been founded by Coretta Scott King in 1968. In this capacity, Davis helped plan the building of the Martin Luther King Historic Site and lobbied Congress to establish the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, which was celebrated for the first time in 1986. Davis also created a federal commission to promote, oversee, and raise money for the King Holiday.

The Amistad Research Center processed the Davis papers under a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. This collection reflects Davis’ work as a housing advocate and documents his tenure as the chief operating officer of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. The papers include correspondence, photographs, programs, pamphlets, and biographical information, and document Davis' efforts to preserve and celebrate the legacy of Dr. King.

Posted by Christopher Harter

(Image from the Lloyd Davis Papers, Amistad Research Center. May not be reproduced without permission.)

Papers of Linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner Donated to Amistad

The Amistad Research Center works closely with potential donors to acquire collections of historical significance, whether they be the papers of individuals and families or the records of organizations and businesses. Sometimes this process of donor cultivation can take years and sometimes donations can come "out of the blue." A recent donation to the Center came unexpectedly from a long-time supporter of the Center and Amistad is proud to announce the acquisition of a small, but significant collection of materials related to linguist and academic Lorenzo Dow Turner.

Lorenzo Dow Turner (1890-1972) was an African American academic and linguist who did seminal research on the Gullah language of the Low Country of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. His studies included recordings of Gullah speakers in the 1930s. He taught at Howard University and Fisk University, created the African Studies curriculum at Fisk, served as chair of the African Studies Program at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and co-founded a training program for Peace Corps volunteers going to Africa.

Lorenzo Dow Turner

The Turner papers encompass approximately 4.26 linear feet of papers, photographs, sound recordings, and annotated books, offprints, and periodicals, as well as 6 feet of Turner's recording equipment. The papers consist of correspondence, writings (both by Turner and collected), family records, school records, and printed ephemera. Letters of note include a 1967 letter from William Brewer of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in which he provides his opinions on John Hope Franklin and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as a 1967 letter from a graduate assistant at Northwestern State College in Natchitoches, Louisiana, discussing "language problems" of her Black students.

Writings include typescripts on Gullah texts and the Sea-Island dialect of South Carolina, writings on African culture, and notebooks and gathered pages with an envelope marked "original of stories and proverbs in the Yoruba." Also present is the text of an address given by Ambassador S.O. Adeba, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, at Roosevelt University in April 1966 and a copy of Turner's dissertation on "Anti-Slavery Sentiment in American Literature Prior to 1865." Additional papers include an invitation to a series of lectures given by Turner at Roosevelt University, news clippings, a draft of a Turner's report on his research conducted on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1951, a hand script chart listing the importation of Africans into South Carolina for 1733-1807 by region of origin, and worksheets used for the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada, compiled by Hans Kurath.

Wire recording and field
notes, circa 1950s

Photographic materials include approximately 100 black and white photographs, circa 1911-1930s, including portraits of Turner, as well as candid images of him, his wife, and unidentified individuals. Also present are a number of books, periodicals, and offprints that contain Turner’s ownership signature and annotations in his hand. Of special significance is the presence of a number of wire recordings and lacquer and metal phonograph records that contain Turner's linquistic field recordings from the 1930s and 1950s. As soon as the sound recordings are inventoried, the Center will pursue funding to digitize and make these materials accessible.

Lorenzo Dow Turner was the subject of a 2007 biography by Margaret Wade-Lewis entitled Lorenzo Dow Turner: Father of Gullah Studies and published by the University of South Carolina Press.

Posted by Christopher Harter

(Images from the papers of Lorenzo Dow Turner Papers.  May not be reproduced without permission.)