Week 32: American Committee on Africa (ACOA)

This week I completed Series 5 of O’Neal’s papers and started writing the series description. I also began to arrange the files from the next series, University Files, and started to compile a resource list for researchers by highlighting materials found in the Center. The list will consist of materials from manuscript collections, books, microfilm and photographs regarding Paul Robeson.

During our monthly staff meeting, we walked through the exhibition gallery to view a new exhibition titled, A Luta Continua: The Founding of the American Committee on Africa.  The exhibition highlights the history of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) as well as other collections housed at Amistad, which documents the decolonization of African countries. It is also an excellent exhibition for all to view materials on display that examines the global influence of human rights organizations.

Week 8: Art and Politics

During week eight, I was a “busy bee.” I finally completed the civil rights organizations series for the John O’Neal papers and composed a series description (yeah); attended a digital projects meeting to discuss metadata guidelines; participated in a collection development meeting; and joined fellow co-workers to a book signing on Tulane’s campus.

I decided to process O’Neal’s community arts organizations series as my second adventure! So far, this series encompass files of art and local community organizations in the Southeast and New Orleans, including committee minutes and agendas for Alternate ROOTS (Regional Organization of Theaters South). O’Neal served as a member of the Advancement Advisory Group and on the Board of Directors for Alternate ROOTS, and as an active member of several other community arts organizations in New Orleans.  Alternate ROOTS was created in 1976 by a small group of performing artists who addressed the goals of promoting social change and economic justice through art and cultural democracy in the Southeast.

As a staff, we attended the A.P. Tureaud, Jr. (Alexander Pierre Tureaud, Jr.) and Rachel Emanuel book signing to hear and discuss A More Noble Cause: A.P. Tureaud and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Louisiana. In 1953, A.P. Tureaud Jr. enrolled as a freshman at Louisiana State University, becoming the school's first African American undergraduate student. Co-author, Dr. Rachel Emanuel, is currently a lawyer and professor of the Southern University Law Center.  The authors passionately described the life of New Orleans attorney, A.P. Tureaud, Sr., his contributions as the principal attorney for the New Orleans chapter of the NAACP, and his personal stance as an advocate for integration, not desegregation of public schools.

A.P. Tureaud’s papers are archived at the Amistad Research Center.

Week 6: Black Resistance in the Age of Revolution Conference

I attended the Black Resistance in the Age of Revolution Conference held on the campus of Tulane University. The conference was a symposium commemorating the bicentennial of the 1811 slave uprising in territorial Louisiana, the largest slave rebellion in the history of North America and the United States.

During the opening session, keynote speaker, Professor Maurice Jackson of Georgetown University, presented a paper titled, Haiti, Louisiana and Beyond: The Importance of Slave Rebellion in African American History.  Jackson described slave rebellions among enslaved Africans in the Americas and examined the 1811 slave uprising within the context of Louisiana, Southern, and Caribbean history. He discussed the success of the Haitian Revolution and various eras of revolutionary change that received great attention in popular history, including the revolts of well known slave revolutionaries Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner.

Other scholars at the conference presented papers and discussed topics pertaining to the slave rebellion in the 1790s Caribbean; women, gender, and slave rebellion; the regional impact of the Haitian Revolution; and the slave rebels in history and memory.

In addition, the staff of the Amistad Research Center held a special reception for the event, hosting scholars and historians from Tulane University and other academic institutions across the country.

Week 1: Welcome to Amistad!

Flying to New Orleans in the midst of Tropical Storm Lee was extremely frightening. But, after a turbulent voyage and a weekend of heavy rainfall and gusting winds, I began my first day at the Amistad Research Center (ARC) with welcoming smiles.  I received a friendly welcome from the Executive Director of Amistad, Lee Hampton, Director of Processing, Laura Thomson, Director of Library and Reference Services, Christopher Harter, and the Center’s entire staff. After a brief staff meeting, I toured the repository with Laura.

 

My first week at ARC has been educational. There is a lot of valuable material at ARC and researchers can certainly take advantage of over 600 manuscript collections and 200,000 books documenting Africana and ethnic history.  For me, the biggest thing right now is familiarizing myself with the institutional holdings and focusing on my individual projects, including processing the papers of playwright and community activist, John M. O’Neal. 

 

In addition, I appraised two small collections, developed appraisal reports, created container lists and accessioned the records in Archon database management system. One of the collections I appraised provides an extensive view into the life of an African American classical musician.

 

It is interesting work…