Black History Month Blog

Ninety-one year old Harold Slappy remembers Saturday nights in New York dancing to Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and other legendary jazz artists. He says, "To me, this is the garden of Eden." http://www.storycorps.net/audio/slappy.mp3 [MP3, 1:18 minutes]

This oral history is made available from StoryCorps, a national project that records individuals' personal histories and stories. The Library of Congress archives each interview, and National Public Radio broadcasts an excerpt each Friday on Morning Edition. For more information, visit http://www.storycorps.net/.

Mary Ellen Spencer, Head - Research and Reference Services

Posted by at 8:43 AM | Permalink

Listen to Sam Harmon, a Navy veteran, recall a painful memory for his grandson Ezra Awimey. Mr. Harmon recounts a visit to Washington, DC that he calls "without any exception...the most painful recollection...that I have." http://www.storycorps.net/audio/harmon.mp3 [MP3, 1:31 minutes]

This oral history is made available from StoryCorps, a national project that records individuals' personal histories and stories. The Library of Congress archives each interview, and National Public Radio broadcasts an excerpt each Friday on Morning Edition. For more information, visit http://www.storycorps.net/.

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

Posted by at 8:35 AM | Permalink

In April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now legendary "I've been to the mountaintop..." speech in Memphis, TN. Dr. King had traveled to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers and addressed a gathering at the Mason Temple. Taylor and Bessie Rogers were in the audience that night and heard Dr. King speak. Listen to their recollection of the address, given the evening before King was shot: http://www.storycorps.net/audio/rogers.mp3 [MP3, 1:35 minutes]

This oral history is made available from StoryCorps, a national project that records individuals' personal histories and stories. The Library of Congress archives each interview, and National Public Radio broadcasts an excerpt each Friday on Morning Edition. For more information, visit http://www.storycorps.net/.

Mary Ellen Spencer, Head - Research and Reference Services.

Posted by at 3:31 PM | 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. 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.

Posted by at 11:00 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 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.

Posted by at 5:41 PM | Permalink

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.

Posted by at 7:34 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 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.

Posted by at 8:37 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.

Posted by at 9:06 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 Sen. Henry L. Marsh, III, civil rights attorney and state senator who served as Richmond's first African American Mayor, from 1977 through 1982.

Sen. Marsh discusses what it meant to confront Richmond's white power structure and become the first African American mayor of the city. Other topics discussed by Marsh in the interview include growing up in segregated Virginia, his first meeting and then working with Oliver W. Hill, Sr., and the role of Massive Resistance in creating Civil Rights leaders in Virginia.

-- Ray Bonis, Special Collections and Archives.

Posted by at 9:04 AM | Permalink