Black History Month Blog

Today is the last day of February and the final day of new posts to the Black History Month Blog! We would like to thank you for helping us to make this new Library initiative a success by reading, posting and commenting to the Blog. We hope that this blog enhanced your appreciation of Black History Month and informed you about resources, events, people and perspectives that gave you new insights into African American History.

After 28 days and almost 60 blog entries, we'd like to hear from you! How often did you read the posts? What did you like best or least? Do you have any suggestions for future Library blogs? Whether you checked in on the Blog once or twice, or read it as part of your daily routine, please tell us what you think! You may post a comment to this post or e-mail Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian, to share your thoughts.

Thank you!

--Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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Click on picture for larger image.

As part of the Black History Month Blog, VCU Libraries would like to spotlight rare images of African American life in Virginia. This image of an Emancipation Day Parade, Richmond, Virginia was taken nearly 100 years ago. The parade took place April 3, 1905. The image was taken by the Detroit Publishing Company one of the most successful postcard publishers in the United States. Follow this link for more information about the 1905 Emancipation Day Parade in Richmond.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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Cabell Library's Special Collections and Archives houses over fifty manuscript collections that make up the Virginia Black History Archives -- a project begun in 1990 to help document African American history in the Central Virginia area. A detailed listing can be accessed where entries for each collection provide a brief description of the materials. Links to the finding aid (or guide) of many of the collections are also provided. Many of these finding aids are the result of Virginia Library of Virginia's (VIVA) Virginia Heritage Project.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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In Gregory, South Dakota, the Oscar Micheaux Festival is an eagerly anticipated annual event. This is the place where the young, enterprising Micheaux wrote, published, and distributed his first semi-autobiographical novel, The Conquest (1913). South Dakota is also the state where he filmed, The Homesteader, which was the first full-length feature film directed, written and produced by an African-American.

Micheaux went on to write, direct, produce, and distribute over forty films nationally and internationally from 1918-1931. While Micheaux died in relative obscurity in 1951, his accomplishments as a pioneer in the film industry are honored by The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and the Producers Guild of America; a star bears his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His works have been resurrected in retrospectives and festivals.

Search by name in the VCU library catalog and you will find books and films by and about Micheaux including:

• Within our Gates, which attacked the racism portrayed in D.W. Griffiths, The Birth of a Nation. Find both films in Media and Reserves, JBC library 3rd. floor PN1997.A1 L5 v. 1 and PN1997 .B55 1998 respectively


• The Life and Work of Oscar Micheaux: pioneer black author and filmmaker, 1884-1951. E-book PN1998.3.M494 Y68 2002eb


• Oscar Micheaux & His Circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era. PN1998.3.M494 O83 2001

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Rev. John Jasper founded Richmond's Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1867 to house his growing congregation of freed slaves. A preacher slave before the war, Jasper achieved national fame in 1878 when he first delivered his "The Sun Do Move" sermon. People of all races flocked to Richmond and Jasper's church to see his unique combination of zeal, imagery and oratory. He would deliver his famous sermon, always in the dialect of the American slave, more than 250 times before his death including before the joint Virginia General Assembly. One of several biographies of Jasper, none currently in print, is available through UNC's Document South collection.

--Curtis Lyons, Head, Special Collections and Archives.

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Visit VCU Libraries' Voices of Freedom where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia. Transcripts of the complete interviews are also available from this site. Throughout Black History Month, we will spotlight different individuals who participated in the Voices of Freedom project. Today, watch (or read) the oral history of Dr. W. Ferguson Reid, a former surgeon and the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly since Reconstruction. Dr. Reid discusses racial segregation in Virginia, racism in the medical community in Richmond, and the Byrd Machine.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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VCU Libraries is proud to present Separate But Not Equal: Race, Education and Prince Edward County, Virginia. This online exhibit features 125 original photographs of white and black schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia taken by Dr. Edward H. Peeples in 1962. Dr. Peeples, VCU professor emeritus, took these photographs of schools which the county claimed represented equal education opportunities for white and black students. Prince Edward County closed their public schools from 1959-1964 in lieu of allowing them to be desegregated, partially funding a "private" school for white children during that period.

--Curtis Lyons, Head, Special Collections and Archives.

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Edna Lewis was born in 1916 in Freetown, Virginia, a rural community of freed slaves founded by her grandfather in the late nineteenth century. Growing, harvesting, and cooking with fresh foods was a way of life she has celebrated in four exceptional cookbooks on "Southern cooking" which have brought her numerous culinary awards and international celebrity.

Now known as the Grande Dame of Southern Cooking, Edna Lewis has given us books which weave memoir and recipe into delightful histories of Southern food, rural life, and cooking. Her devotion to the use of fresh vegetables and fruits presaged the contemporary "fresh foods" movement in American cooking. She has lived and worked in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Manhattan, New York; Charleston, South Carolina; and currently resides in Decatur, Georgia, a vibrant intown community of Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2003, at age 87,Lewis published her fourth book, The Gift of Southern Cooking, with Scott Peacock, a noted Alabama chef. To read the full text of an article describing her fascinating life and cooking legacy, use the E-Journals search to find "Southern Secrets from Edna Lewis," by Gwendolyn Glenn in American Visions, Feb/Mar 1997. This article is cited in the International Index to Black Periodicals Full Text, available as a VCU research database.

The Black History Month link on the Epicurious website gives another biographical look at Edna Lewis: http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/holiday/black_history.

--Phyllis Jennings, Reference Librarian.

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The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences contains information on African-American men and women who have "contributed to the advancement of science and engineering." Among the biographical sketches linked on this web site is one for Augustus Nathaniel Lushington, a Trinidad native who became the first African-American to earn Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Lushington received his degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1897 and eventually settled in Lynchburg, Virginia where he established his practice.

--Jodi Koste, Archivist, MCV Campus.

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Did you know that a synthetic version of cortisone was developed by Dr. Julian Percy, an African-American chemist? Or did you know that in 1995, Shirley Ann Jackson was named chairperson of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the first African-American woman to hold that post? Want to learn more? Visit the U.S. Census Bureau's Profile America Black History Month 2005 Web site, which features 28 daily vignettes that highlight the accomplishments of prominent African-Americans.

The sixty-second stories can be heard in Quicktime, or downloaded in mp3 format. In addition to the audio clips, links to text versions of the scripts are included, complete with photos of the featured individuals. The stories also present current information regarding the numbers or percentages of African-Americans in the featured fields, from sculpting to teaching to engineering. For more information about Profile America and its Black History Month feature, please visit http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/radio/bhfeb.html.

Want more government resources? Check these out!

• Gateway to African-American History


• Black family research : records of post-Civil War federal agencies at the National Archives Cabell Library Government Docs AE1.124:108/2003


• A print version of a U.S. Department of Commerce film called "From Dreams to Reality: A Tribute to Minority Inventors" and related materials are also available in Cabell. Ask Government Information Librarian Renée Bosman for details.

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Harlem, a New York City neighborhood, was the sight of cultural, social, literary, and artistic awakening for African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s. The Harlem Renaissance began as the "Great Migration" of African Americans from the South moved to large Northern and Midwestern cities. Many of the most influential participants in the Harlem Renaissance were part of this influx, including Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Richard Wright, and Langston Hughes. The Renaissance had far-reaching effects; even Richmond, particularly the Jackson Ward neighborhood (known also as the "Harlem of the South") experienced cultural, intellectual, and economic benefits.

Civil Rights organizations, such as the NAACP, started during the Harlem Renaissance, but the influence of this movement is most greatly felt in the tremendous body of literature, journalism, music, theatre, and art that was produced and appreciated nationally and internationally.

The VCU Libraries offer many books written during and about the Harlem Renaissance. Search for "Harlem Renaissance" as a subject in the catalog for a listing. Sample titles include:

• Aberjhani and Sandra L. West. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. REF PS153 .N5 A24 2003


• Anderson, Paul Allen. Deep River : Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance Thought. Cabell Stacks ML3556 .A53 2001


• Fabre, Genevieve and Michel Feith. Temples for Tomorrow : Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance. Cabell Stacks PS153.N5 T45 2001


• Krasner, David. A Beautiful Pageant : African American Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance. Cabell Stacks PS338.N4 K73 2002

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Take some time during Black History Month to uncover some lesser-known facts about the history of African Americans in the United States. While many of us readily recognize the incredible achievements of such prominent figures as Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it's important to remember the contributions of African Americans in all places and times throughout our nation's past. For instance, many know that Dr. King received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, but some may not know that the first African American to receive that honor was actually Ralph Bunche in 1950 for his work in the Middle East. Bunche, born in the slums of Detroit, became the first African American to earn a PhD in Political Science from Harvard University in 1934, and later rose to become the undersecretary general of the United Nations.

You can find more of these kinds of facts in a book entitled, Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events in Cabell's Reference section (Call Number: Ref E 185.B574 2003). While you're in this section, take a look at other books in the E 185 area. Here, you'll find African American encyclopedias, statistics, images, biographical resources, historical documents, and much more. For example, in the book African-American Political Leaders (Call Number: Ref E 185.96.C18 2004), you can discover how Norfolk, Virginia native Ella Baker came to help found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, or how former slave Blanche Kelso Bruce beat all odds to become the second African American to serve in the U.S. Senate, and the first be elected to and serve a full term.

Stop by Cabell Library Reference on the first floor and browse! Other biographical resources in this area include:

• Distinguished African American Political and Governmental Leaders (Ref E185.61 .H359 1999)


• Notable Black American Men (Ref E185.86 .N68 1999)


• African-American Heroes & Heroines : 150 true stories of African-American Heroism (Ref E185.96 .B377 1998)


• Facts on File Encyclopedia of Black Women in America (Ref E185.96 .F2 1997)


• Who's Who among African Americans (Ref E185.96 .W52)

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Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) and VCU Libraries collaborate to develop a multicultural collection. This is a unique collection of popular or lower academic books and videos on the cultures of the various ethnic groups in the VCU community. The purpose is to offer materials that inform the VCU faculty, staff and students about the cultures of other nations. The collection is housed in the OMSA office and it is intended to make the center more welcoming and interactive. The records are represented in the VCU Library catalog with a location of "Multicultural Resource Center".

The collection so far covers but is not limited to the cultures of African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American and some European. Currently, it is non-circulating. It is still a small collection but it is growing. You can browse the collection from the library catalog or visit the OMSA office to enjoy it. If you have any questions, please contact Napoleon Peoples or Ibironke Lawal.

--Ibironke Lawal, Engineering and Science Librarian.

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Visit VCU Libraries' Voices of Freedom where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia. Transcripts of the complete interviews are also available from this site. Throughout Black History Month, we will spotlight different individuals who participated in the Voices of Freedom project.

Today, watch (or read) the oral history of John A. Stokes, educator and retired principal of Baltimore City Public Schools. Stokes was one of the leaders of the student strike at the R.R. Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia in April, 1951. The strike led to the federal court case, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, which was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States as part of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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Richmond's Living Word Stage company will be performing Two Trains Running by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson on Friday, February 25th and Monday, February 28th at 8:00 at Richmond's Empire Theatre. 50% of all proceeds from these performances will go to the Richmond Black History Museum and Cultural Center. Tickets for this event are $18.

The Black History Museum has recently announced drastic cuts in hours and services due to state funding shortfalls. In addition to buying tickets for themselves, people may purchase tickets which the Museum will arrange to go to members of the community who would not normally be able to attend. Please contact Mary Lauderdale at 780-9093 for more information.

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VCU's Provost Emeritus Grace Harris is a dramatic example of the trials which African Americans underwent in 20th century Virginia and the greater opportunities they have today. Denied admission to the School of Social Work in 1954 because of her race, she joined the School's faculty in 1967, was named the School's Dean in 1982, became Vice Provost for Continuing Studies and Public Service in 1990, and was Academic Provost from 1993 until her retirement in 1999. She was also Acting President of VCU during the Summer of 1995 and again in 1998. Upon her retirement, the Board of Visitors created the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute which she continues to lead.

While each of these promotions marked a significant accomplishment both for Dr. Harris and VCU, in a 1995 article in VCU's alumni magazine she states "becoming Dean was the most significant professional accomplishment and personal victory for me given the complete turn of events it entailed."

To learn more about African American history at VCU, visit the library's online version of the VCU alumni magazine article, "This Was My Time"--Integrating RPI and VCU. A timeline of African American history at VCU is available online and a display with images from the University Archives is also on exhibit on the first floor of Cabell Library.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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Minorities and the Mass Media is the name of a special topics course taught this semester by Dr. Clarence Thomas, Associate Professor in the School of Mass Communications. The course examines historical and contemporary topics and issues associated with the presence and portrayal of selected minorities in/by mainstream mass media.

Crucial to illustrating the issues discussed in the course, is the viewing and interpretation of images of minorities in full-length films and television. In coordination with Dr. Thomas, the VCU libraries have purchased several new videos featuring minority actors and actresses in some of their earlier roles in film and television. While the course focuses primarily on African-Americans, the library's media resources cover a range of minority groups.

Check out this list of selected resources currently available in Media and Reserves, Cabell Library 3rd. floor: Films and Video available in Media and Reserves, JBC Library, Third Floor (Word document).

--Serena Harioan, Collection Management Librarian - Business and Public Affairs.

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Clarence W. Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Mass Communications, will work on the Voices of Civil Rights project, which is sponsored by the AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Library of Congress. The project's goal is to collect and preserve the stories of the Civil Rights movement. The information will become part of a repository at the Library of Congress and will be used for scholarly investigation in the future.

The project already has collected several thousand accounts of the movement. More information on this project is available here: htt://www.voicesofcivilrights.org.

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The VCU Black Awakening Choir will be performing this Friday Feb. 25th at St Peter Baptist Church at their Annual Black History & Cultural Festival, located at 2040 MOUNTAIN RD, GLEN ALLEN. The event starts at 6:30 and will feature the Black Awakening Choir in concert, two other choirs, two dance ministries and also a play. We invite all to come out and see the choir!

For more information, feel free to contact me, Jamaal Howard Business Manager for VCU's Black Awakening Choir.

--Jamaal Howard, Business Manager, VCU Black Awakening Choir.

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In recognition of the importance of oral history in African American studies, VCU Libraries presents a guide to oral history sites on the web that focus on African American history and culture: African American Oral History. The guide features three sections: Early African American History, The Civil Rights Era, and Oral History Research.

Audio files of the voices of those who experienced these events are provided on many of the sites. Their stories comprise an invaluable record -- for all to hear -- of crucial events in our history. The guide lists a selection of sites that exist on these topics -- for futher assistance in researching topics on African American history, please see our Research Guide for Black History Month and please contact VCU Libraries for any assistance you may need with your research.

--Kevin Farley, Collection Librarian for Social & Behavioral Sciences.

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Members of the 1927 graduating class of the St. Philip School of Nursing pose on the steps outside the St. Philip Hospital in Richmond. When this segregated hospital was opened in the fall of 1920, the Medical College of Virginia established a separate nurse training program for African-American women. Over the next 42 years, the St. Philip School of Nursing graduated 688 women many of whom went on to have distinguished careers in the profession. This image and others are among the historical materials related to the St. Philip School of Nursing found in Special Collections and Archives at Tompkins-McCaw Library.

--Jodi Koste, Archivist, MCV Campus.

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WHAT: The Pilgrimmage of Malcolm X
WHEN: Weds Feb 23rd @ 7pm
WHERE: Commonwealth Ballroom A, VCU Student Commons

The Muslim Students' Association Proudly Presents its Black History Month Event
for 2005: THE PILGRIMMAGE OF MALCOLM X

Program highlights include-

- Guest Speaker: Jihad Abdul-Mumit
Civil Rights Activist & Former Black Panther

- A Portion of a DVD Documentary featuring Zaid
Shakir and Hamza Yusuf: for more info visit
(http://onlineislamicstore.com/a3925.html)

- A Panel of Muslims recently returned from
the Hajj (Pilgrimmage)

--Ali M Faruk, President, Muslim Students' Association, VCU.

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On this day in 1909, Dr. Helen Octavia Dickens was born in Dayton Ohio. Dickens received her medical education from the University of Illinois in 1934. Following a residency at Chicago's Provident Hospital, she worked with Dr. Virginia Alexander at the Aspiranto Health Home in North Philadelphia where she developed and interest in obstetrics and gynecology. She pursued advanced training ob-gyn and became the first female African-American physician in Philadelphia to receive board certified in hers specialty in 1945. Five years later she was elected a fellow of the American College of Surgeons becoming the first African American woman to be so honored.

Dickens is one of several African-American physicians included in the National Library of Medicine's exhibit, "Changing the Face of Medicine." Currently the exhibit can be viewed at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. An online version is available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/

VCU Libraries will host the traveling version of "Changing the Face of Medicine" at some point in 2006.

--Jodi Koste, Archivist, MCV Campus.

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Documenting the American South is a digital library that offers online access to books, memoirs, images, songs, artifacts, diaries and more. The collection's emphasis is on the South's cultural, literary, and historic legacy, from its beginnings though the early 20th century.

North American Slave Narratives is one of the seven DocSouth collections, and includes all autobiographical slave narratives in English. The project documents "the individual and collective story of African Americans struggling for freedom and human rights in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries." The approximately three hundred narratives were published as broadsides (Life, Last Words, and Dying Speech of Stephen Smith), pamphlets (The Confessions of Nat Turner), and books (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself). Other notable slave narratives include Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, Up From Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington, and Narrative of Sojourner Truth, a Northern Slave by Sojourner Truth and Olive Gilbert.

--Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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Our Black History Month Video Montage, a one-hour montage of clips from 37 videos and DVDs related to African American history housed in the Media and Reserves Services Department of the Cabell Library, is available online and playing throughout Black History Month in Java 901.

From Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to The Jeffersons to the Dance Theatre of Harlem, this montage represents the wide selection of feature films, documentaries, biographies, classic television shows, musical performances, and historical films available in MRS. A complete list of the films selected for this montage is available.

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Carrie Marie Sharpe (1881-1967) was the founder and first president of the State Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, later Old Dominion Graduate Nurses Association. A role model for African-American nurses, Sharpe was actively involved in professional nursing associations on a national level and in her native Virginia. Her accomplishments were recognized in 2001 when she was one of ten nurses inducted into the newly created Virginia Nursing Hall of Fame.

--Jodi Koste, Archivist, MCV Campus.

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The Association of Muslim Women in America at VCU (AMWA at VCU) is sponsoring two exciting activities in recognition of Black History month.

The first event is "Reflections of Hajj: An African-American Muslim Experience", which will take place from 5 - 6:30p.m. Saturday, February 19th. Guest speaker Hajjah Inas Abdul Sabur, a second-generation African-American Muslim, will be presenting.

The second event is two films on "The Legacy of Malcolm X, His Story, As it Really Happened", with guest speaker Benjamin Kareem (portrayed as "Bro. Benjamin" in the Spike Lee film "X"). This event will be held on Friday, February 25th from 7 - 9:30p.m.

Both events will be held in Richmond Salon III in the Commons. Don't miss them!

For more information about these events or about the AMWA at VCU, please contact B. Aqila Mujahid.

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Documenting the American South is a digital library that offers online access to books, memoirs, images, songs, artifacts, diaries and more. The collection's emphasis is on the South's cultural, literary, and historic legacy, from its beginnings though the early 20th century.

According to the DocSouth website, "'The Church in the Southern Black Community' collects autobiographies, biographies, church documents, sermons, histories, encyclopedias, and other published materials. These texts present a collected history of the way Southern African Americans experienced and transformed Protestant Christianity into the central institution of community life. Coverage begins with white churches' conversion efforts, especially in the post-Revolutionary period, and depicts the tensions and contradictions between the egalitarian potential of evangelical Christianity and the realities of slavery. It focuses, through slave narratives and observations by other African American authors, on how the black community adapted evangelical Christianity, making it a metaphor for freedom, community, and personal survival."

The following are examples of the digitized texts included in the project:

• History of African Methodism in Virginia, or Four Decades in the Old Dominion
  Butt, Israel L. (Israel La Fayette), b. 1848
  Hampton, Va.: Hampton Institute Press, 1908. 253 p.


• Afro-American Encyclopaedia
  Haley, James T.
  Nashville, Tenn.: Haley & Florida, 1895. xiv, 639 p.


• Recollections of Seventy Years
  Payne, Daniel Alexander, 1811-1893
  Nashville: A. M. E. Sunday School Union, 1888. 335 p.

--Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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Prominent Muslim scholar Imam Zaid Shakir has written an insightful and thought-provoking article on the meaning of Black History Month from a Muslim perspective. Shakir's article is freely available online from the Zaytuna Institute. In this article, Shakir reflects on the state of African-Americans in the United States, among other topics, and proposes some strategies for overcoming pressing social problems.

Thanks to Ali Faruk, President of VCU's Muslim Students' Association for recommending this article for the Blog! Look for a post from Ali on Monday about an exciting MSA event coming up next week called "The Pilgrimmage of Malcolm X!" The event will take place at 7pm on Wednesday in the Commonwealth Ballroom A of the Student Union. More details to come in Monday's post!

--Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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The next program in the Virginia Heritage Resource Center's Mining the Treasure House lecture series will take place at noon on Wednesday, 16 February, 2005 in the conference rooms adjacent to the lobby in the Library of Virginia at 800 East Broad Street in downtown Richmond. Douglas Sanford, director of the Center for Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington, will discuss the valuable evidence on aspects of slave housing to be found in the fire insurance policies of the Mutual Assurance Society. Sanford will explain the value of this evidence in the light of ongoing efforts by archaeologists to compile standardized databases of data related to the material and social outcomes of slavery in the Chesapeake region.

There is free underground parking for Library patrons, but please note that space is limited. For more information on this and other progams and services of the Library of Virginia please visit the Library's web site at http://lva.lib.va.us or call at 804-692-3592.

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African American women made their mark in the twentieth century in all areas of life and scholarship. However, the scientists are usually overshadowed by their counterparts in the civil rights movement, entertainment, business and sports. This piece highlights the achievements of some female scientists who despite obvious obstacles, succeeded in various scientific fields often seen to be the realm of men. These women are an inspiration to all women of color all around the world.

Download file (Word document)

--Ibironke Lawal, Engineering and Science Librarian.

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VCU Libraries invites you to attend its Third Annual Black History Month Lecture sponsored by the VCU Friends of the Library. The lecture is entitled, "And still I sing: African-American women in three musical traditions" presented by Christopher Brooks".

The lecture begins at 7:30pm in the VCU Student Commons Ballrooms, 2nd Floor. This event is free and open to the public. Please contact Kimberly Separ at 804-827-1163 or send an e-mail if special accommodations are needed.

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch features profiles of black Virginians throughout the month of February. Previous years' profile listings are also available from 1996-2004.

Some 2005 profiles include Benjamin Leroy Wigfall, Barbara Johns, Julius Erving, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and Tim Reid.

--Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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As part of the Black History Month Blog, VCU Libraries would like to spotlight rare images of African American life in Virginia. Our third image this month is from LIFE Magazine [a complete bound set is housed in Special Collections and Archives]. The image shows Oliver W. Hill, (1907-) during the swearing-in ceremony of Richmond's newly elected City Council, September 7, 1948. Hill is seen standing on the podium in front of what is now Old City Hall. The 1948 election followed the change from a bi-cameral governing system to a city manager system. Oliver W. Hill, Jr., then a Richmond lawyer and member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, was the first African American to be elected to Richmond's City Council in 52 years. Watch (or read) the oral history of Oliver W. Hill, Sr., part of the library's Voices of Freedom site where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia.

Can you identify the person wearing eye glasses sitting in front of Oliver W. Hill, Jr. in this 1948 image? This individual has his arms folded and is wearing a light colored suit. He was present because he had been elected to the Richmond Charter Commission which had come up with the plan for the new system of government. Submit a comment to this post if you think you know the answer.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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Black History Month Research Guide

The Research Guide for Black History Month has been updated! Check it out for a brief history of Black History Month, VCU Libraries online exhibits, and informative web resources.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Guide

If Black History Month has increased your interest in the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., take a look at the updated MLK Research Guide. Find books held in the VCU Libraries, movies, and websites about the great and influential leader.

--Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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For a thorough, yet brief, introduction to the African American literary tradition, check out the entry for "Literary History" in The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. This entry covers the Colonial, Antislavery, and Reconstruction Eras, as well as the Twentieth Century, and is a good starting point for literary research. This companion is extensive and engaging, a reference book worthy of being read cover to cover. Not only does it include entries for authors, characters, and works of note, but also articles on various literary genres (Plantation Tradition, Novel of Passing, Neo-slave Narrative, Speculative Fiction), influences (Moses, Jazz, Civil Rights Movement), themes (Freedom, Identity, Class, Family), and much more. The Companion truly is a seminal work in the field of African American literary studies, and an invaluable resource whether you are reading African American literature for a class or your own personal enjoyment.

--Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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Be sure to watch this interesting series with contributions from VCU professor Norrrece T. Jones of the History Department:

Morgan Freeman narrates SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA. This four-part series airs on two nights (two episodes per night), Wednesdays, February 9 and 16 at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on WCVE Richmond PBS / WHTJ Charlottesville PBS, with repeats on Sundays, February 13 and 20 at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on WCVW Richmond PBS. This groundbreaking series chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619 through the adoption of the 13th Amendment and Reconstruction. The series' unprecedented breadth offers entirely new perspectives on and facts about slavery. The series challenges many long-held notions (including the idea that slavery was exclusively a southern practice) and highlights the contradictions of a country that was founded on the principle of "liberty and justice for all," but embraced slavery.

--Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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The Thomson-Gale publishing company has assembled a variety of materials in celebration of Black History Month. The site includes biographical material, a timeline of events, and information about African-American literature. Be sure to download the free Black History Month wall calendar!

-- Mary Ellen Spencer Head, Research and Reference.

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Visit VCU Libraries' Voices of Freedom where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia. Transcripts of the complete interviews are also available from this site. Throughout Black History Month, we will spotlight different individuals who participated in the Voices of Freedom project.

Today, watch (or read) the oral history of Rev. Curtis W. Harris pastor, civil rights leader, former president of the Virginia Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and former mayor of Hopewell. Rev. Harris discusses his work with the SCLC and Martin Luther King, Jr., civil disobedience and confronting the Klu Klux Klan in Hopewell.

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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The African-American experience has been largely shaped by religious leaders who were historically some of the most influential members of their communities. African-American Religious Leaders is a biographical reference book that examines the lives of well-known figures such as Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, J. W. C. Pennington, and Sojourner Truth. Coverage also extends to lesser-known individuals, including George Lee, a Mississippi voting rights advocate and Baptist pastor, and Daniel Payne, an AME Bishop and educator. Celebrities known for their religious leadership, including athletes Reggie White and George Foreman, are also included.

You can find African-American Religious Leaders in the Reference section on the first floor of Cabell Library, call number REF BL72 .A27 2003. Read a review of this title on Amazon!

-- Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

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During February, the History Channel will feature a number of programs devoted to Black History in America. Topics include: black preachers, George Washington Carver, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and voices of the civil rights movement. The site also includes video clips and speeches given by African Americans, including: Malcolm X, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and Adam Clayton Powell.

-- Mary Ellen Spencer, Head, Research and Reference.

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Celebrate Black History Month with the A&E Channel. During February, A&E's Biography series will highlight the contributions of African Americans, including: Colin Powell, Rosa Parks, Jimi Hendrix, Arthur Ashe, Malcolm X, Chris Rock and others. The site includes a brief history of the Civil Rights Movement as well as a photo gallery.

-- Mary Ellen Spencer, Head, Research and Reference

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Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aohome.html

This online exhibit from the Library of Congress showcases the Library's African American collections, including a wide array of rare books, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films and recordings.

The site tell the story of the African American experience through nine chronological periods: Slavery - The Peculiar Institution, Free Blacks in the Antebellum Period, Abolition, The Civil War, Reconstruction, the Booker T. Washington Era, World War I and the Postwar Society, the Depression, New Deal and World War II, and Civil Rights.

-- Mary Ellen Spencer, Head, Research and Reference.

--Curtis Lyons, Head, Special Collections and Archives.

Posted by at 11:46 AM | Permalink

VCU Libraries is launching the Archives of the New Dominion outreach initiative in 2005 to reach out to area African-American, Hispanic, Gay and Lesbian, and Women's Activist organizations. The purpose of this project is to collect the materials from these communities which will be necessary for historians and social scientists of the future to document their existence and efforts. This is a three-year, NHPRC grant-funded initiative designed to strengthen VCU's connections with the Greater Richmond community and to fill in what might otherwise be a gap in the history of this region. For more information, please contact Curtis Lyons.

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Fiction and non-fiction author Marita Golden will be speaking on the
"Color Complex" from 7-9pm on February 10th in the Commonwealth Ballrooms A & B. Her 2004 book Don't Play in the Sun : One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex is an account of the author's experiences growing up and living in America as " a dark-skinned black woman".

The book delves into the controversial subject of colorism, opening a public debate on whether there is a different level of discrimination between lighter and darker skinned African-Americans and whether that discrimination even exists within the African-American community. This event is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and the English Department.

For more information on Marita Golden, her books, workshops and the Foundation she founded to support Black writers, visit www.maritagolden.com.

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Today on VH1, watch a fun and interesting 3-part series about African-Americans' influence and achievements in 80's pop culture. The series is called "Black in the 80's". Part 1, "Color TV" focuses on African-Americans in television broadcasting. Part 2, "Def Jams," explores the 80's black music renaissance with the success of artists like Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Whitney Houston, to name a few. Part 3, "Color in Film," highlights the movie industry and stereotypes.

The series airs tonight at 5pm and runs until 8pm. See VH1's web site for the schedule and details.

--Jill Stover, Undergraduate Services Librarian.

Posted by at 11:40 AM | Permalink

Visit VCU Libraries' Voices of Freedom where you can access video oral histories of twelve leaders of the Civil Rights movement in Virginia. Transcripts of the complete interviews are also available from this site.

Throughout Black History Month, we will spotlight different individuals who participated in the Voices of Freedom project. Today, watch (or read) the oral history of Dr. Joyce E. Glaise, educator, community activist, and former member of the Danville, Virginia City Council. Dr. Glaise discusses the racial situation in Danville, Dr. Martin Luther King's trip to Danville in 1963 and the church's role in the Civil Rights movement.

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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The remaining two Reid lectures scheduled for February 15th and 17th have been moved to March 1st and 3rd. The 9:30am to 10:45am time remains the same. For more information, please contact the School of Mass Communications or visit their web site.

Posted by at 3:49 PM | Permalink

The Association of Black Communicators at VCU was founded in the fall of 2002 after a few students felt the need to start an organization for Mass Communications minorities to develop skills and learn more about internships and job opportunities in their unique fields.

Since the organizations founding, membership has grown and many charter members have commenced and started wonderful careers. ABC organizes monthly workshops that include resume writing, internship opportunities, and tours of local stations. The Association of Black Communicators is always looking for new members or those who would like to volunteer.

During the entire month of February, the organization will be hosting a breakfast with Tim Reid and going to Channel 12 for a tour of the newsroom. ABC will also be co-sponsoring with the VCU Chapter of NAACP for the Sista Souljah Lecture/Book Signing.

For more information on the organization, you can email Ashlee Thomas, President, at thomasav@mail1.vcu.edu. The organization is advised by Dr. Clarence Thomas and Ms. Bonnie Davis.

--Ashlee Thomas, President, Association of Black Communicators.

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Visiting professor Tim Reid, an emmy-nominated actor, director, producer, and founder and president of New Millennium Studios, will be hosting a series of lectures on the topic of blacks in film and television. Reid will be delivering these lectures for a new course being taught by Dr. Clarence Thomas of the School of Mass Communications, called "Minorities and Mass Media." The course will cover such topics as minority representation and stereotypes and minorities' contributions in the field of mass media.

Reid's lectures will be held in the VCU Student Commons on Feb. 1, 3, 15 and 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. For more information, see the VCU News page.

Look for a post later this month about how VCU Libraries is supporting Dr. Thomas' fascinating new course!

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Virginia native, Ella Fitzgerald, has been dubbed the "First Lady of Song." Born in Newport News on April 25, 1917, Ella moved with her mother to Yonkers, N.Y. when her parents went separate ways early in her life. She was a tomboy who loved neighborhood baseball games and occasionally took the train to Harlem to see the acts at the Apollo Theater.

Rougher days followed when Ella's mother was killed in a car accident. During this period of great instability, Ella became embroiled in trouble at school and with the police and soon found herself in a reform school. She escaped from the harsh regimen of this school and began living alone, at the age of 15, during the Great Depression.

Reflecting on the struggle of her early years, Ella often credited this time with giving her the determination to become a successful singer of great intensity and style. She was "discovered" during an Amateur Night at the same Apollo Theater she had loved as a carefree child. The rest, for lovers of great jazz and ballad singing, is history.

To hear or read about the lives of other outstanding African-Americans, both famous and obscure, visit the Black History Month 2005 Feature Stories website from the U.S. Census Bureau. You can listen to 60 second radio clips, one biography for each day of February, from their Profile America radio series. This site is available on VCU Libraries' Black History Month Research and Topic guide.

-- Phyllis Jennings, Reference Librarian.

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Mark your calendars now for the many campus events taking place in honor of Black History Month! The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs has posted a Black History Month Calendar that lists many of the happenings taking place this month here at VCU. Please consider attending some of these worthwhile events!

Some events taking place soon include:

• February 3, 2005 The Terry Jurphy Jazz Trio will be performing from 12-1 at the VCU Medical Center- Gateway 1.
• February 3, 2005
  The Office of Community Programs is sponsoring "Perspectives on Community, Richmond and Leadership", a conversation with Richmond attorney and President of the American Bar Association Robert Grey on his perspectives of Richmond Leadership from 7-9pm in the Singleton Performing Arts Center.
• February 3, 2005
  VCU's School of World Studies is sponsoring "Lost Voices of Afro-Celts: Africans and Scottish Highlanders in the old American South" with singer, artist and multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens and author/lecturer Dr. Michael Newton from 7-9pm in the Grace Street Theatre.

Of special note, the VCU Friends of the Library are sponsoring the 3rd annual Black History Month Lecture on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. This year's lecture is called, "And I Still Sing: African-American Women in Three Musical Traditions," presented by Christopher Brooks. The lecture will take place in the VCU Commons Ballrooms, 2nd floor. This event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

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As part of the Black History Month Blog, VCU Libraries would like to spotlight rare images of African American life in Virginia. Our first image is a rare interior view of First African Baptist Church. Located at College and Broad on what is now the MCV campus, the building was built in 1876. It replaced an older structure (built 1802) that housed Richmond's First Baptist Church, a congregation made up of whites, slaves, and some free blacks. The white congregation moved to a new church building at Broad and Tenth in 1841. The First African Baptist Church building was sold to the Medical College of Virginia in 1955 when the congregation moved to a new location in Richmond's North Side. The 1876 structure still stands. It is now called the Randolph-Minor Annex.

The image of the church is taken from Souvenir Views: Negro Enterprise and Residences, Richmond, Va. This 1907 publication has nearly 50 images showing over 100 views of Richmond's African American community is part of the Library of Congress' American Memory site, what is described as a "digital record of American history and creativity."

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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Not only does the first day of February usher in Black History Month, it is
the birthdate of Langston Hughes (1902-1967), one of the nation's most respected writers. VCU Libraries is unveiling its latest online exhibit on what would have been Hughes' 103rd birthday.
"Something Very Real" - Langston Hughes and Richmond, Virginia explores
Hughes' visit to Richmond on Friday, November 19, 1926. His appearance at Virginia Union University marked his first reading in the South.

On the night before his reading, Hughes attended a small party given in his honor in the Richmond home of Hunter Stagg (1895-1960), remembered best as one of the founding editors of The Reviewer, Richmond literary magazine that received national attention in the 1920s. Hughes' papers are housed in VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives and materials in the collection are featured in the exhibit.

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

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