Minutes from a meeting of the Black Panther Foundation on April 19, 1987. Low attendance at the last meeting was briefly mentioned before a meeting regarding Howard University's Black Panther archive was discussed. Members discussed the burial committee, money, reaching out to new members, and the foundation’s responsibility.
An agenda for a meeting of the Black Panther Foundation in 1987. The Black Panther Foundation discussed their leadership and a defined mission of the foundation. There is also a note about a meeting with Howard University about establishing a Black Panther Party archive.
In this photograph, beaming Black soldiers smile and wave out the windows of a bus with the Southern Pacific Lines insignia on the side. Others stand around bags of luggage waiting to enter the transport. While Southern Pacific Lines was known as a locomotive company, this vehicle appeared to be a bus rather than a train car.
In a year of letters, L. I. Alexander and President W. H. Gray explored opportunities in insurance and real estate, amid decreasing college interest. Gray, seeing Alexander as a key leader, supported his initiative to acquire property and foster Black excellence in education and business.
A memo from the Black Liberation Army (BLA) to the Guardians Association. The memo explains the BLA's stance on killing police and pleads with Black police officers to no longer side with their white counterparts. The Guardian’s Association is a fraternal organization primarily composed of Black law enforcement officers.
A memo from the Black Liberation Army (BLA) eulogizing Kakoonya Olugbala (Twymon Myers) who gave his life to the struggle against oppression. He was killed in a shootout with New York Police and FBI agents on November 14, 1973, after a long manhunt (he was on the FBI’s most wanted list) because of his involvement with previous police shootings.
A directive from the Black Liberation Army (BLA) calling Black people in the United States to organize against the white power complex. The author writes that the end of the American empire is near and that the BLA will aid any programs that are for Black people, by Black people, including forcing corporations to contribute goods to the cause.
This two-page spread comes from the 1981 Rattler Yearbook and features images from Black History Month events at both Florida A&M University and Florida State University. Prominent figures like Dr. Larry Rivers, Joseph “Joe” Lang Kershaw, and Dick Gregory were highlighted for significant events or visited the campuses’ to speak to students.
A newspaper article from the Jackson Advocate about the history of the Farish Street Historic District. Some research for the article comes from Jackson State's Farish Street Oral History Collection.
John Woodrow Wilson was a famous painter known for his creative portraits and stylistic approach to social justice. Black Despair shows a Black man in a state of anguish with his arms crossed over his head, facing downward. His right fist sits above his head, and he is wearing a military uniform.
Charles Clinton Spaulding, born in 1874, rose from a farm boy in North Carolina to leading the largest black insurance company, the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association.
This radiant work by Oliver Parson engulfs the viewer in the spiraling flow of a smiling woman's silky headwrap. The headwrap is a fashionable method of hair protection and expression of identity that is shared among women across the African diaspora.
Erma Gordon’s “Bison” sculpture includes two-toned clay with a smooth finish on the body. The hair of the bison is carefully sculpted on the top of its body, lending a realistic, soft texture. The artist depicted herself creating this sculpture in her Hannah Hall mural. Wildlife are frequent subjects of TSU student terracottas.
A birthday card from Nuh Abdul Qaiyum, who is imprisoned, to Sule for his 5th birthday. A photo of Malcolm X is on the cover. Nuh Abdul Qaiyum quotes Malcolm X and explains the importance of letting go of fear, ignorance, and oppression. He expresses disappointment that he is not free to wish Sule, “young Black warrior,” a happy birthday in person.
A birthday card from Ashanti Alston, a Black Liberation Army (BLA) member who was imprisoned for 11 years for a robbery to raise money for the BLA, to Frankye Adams-Johnson (Malika). Ashanti Alston wishes her a happy birthday and gives her an update on her birthday gift.
Burley’s vibrant mural explores cycles of life and focuses on women. The left conveys night and includes a female constellation. The right shows daytime, with plants and animals. A rainbow runs across, signifying unity. The large, detailed hand is a frequent motif in the art of Biggers’ students.
White square button for the Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 Foot Soldiers Reunion. There is also text on the button that says: "Inspired by what we did for ourselves-and the world." The 1963 Foot Soldiers were children marchers in Birmingham who encountered police resistance in the form of water hoses, attack dogs, and arrests.
This abstract work features three distorted cows’ faces that seem to be staring upwards and at the viewer, against a colorful triangular background. Vital was an art student at Texas Southern and later went on to become a faculty member in the art department. Many works in the school’s collection, particularly from the 1970s, use cubist styles.
Elizabeth Montgomery Shelton’s terracotta is made up of a variety of colored clays with embellishments that have been painted using black and tan slips. The top half includes layers of plates extending out from the surface, while the bottom half is evenly decorated with pressed circular clay. The structure perhaps mimics an instrument or a bird feeder.
Seven pages of typed biographical information on Monroe N. Work, with many edits written in pencil. Undated, but latest date listed is 1932. "For Miss [Jessie] Parkhurst" is written on one page.
A photograph of a billboard advertising the Smith Robertson Neighborhood Folklife Festival, April 9-11, 1983. The festival was a one-time grant sponsored event held on the grounds of the Smith Robertson Museum to celebrate the rich history and culture of the Farish Street Historic District.
This is a brochure for the April 2010 John T. Biggers Carroll Harris Simms Symposium On the Art of the African Diaspora: Building Upon Our Legacy. This regular event from the University Museum at Texas Southern brings together artists, historians, educators, students, alumni, and members of the public to celebrate the legacy of Biggers and Simms, who worked together to build TSU’s art department from the ground up.
Remble's drawing portrays renowned Mardi Gras Indian chief David Montana. Mardi Gras Indians refers to Black New Orleanians who draw from Creole, Indigenous, African, and Afro-Caribbean tradition to develop a unique form of visual culture and resistance. Remble, a Texas Southern graduate, was born in New Orleans and later moved to Houston. In his own words, he aims to "explore and preserve the diverse subcultures of the American South" through his art.
This collection includes a pamphlet explaining the Bicentennial Restoration Project, an initiative undertaken by FAMU’s Black Church Restoration Committee to mend the Bethlehem Church, and a check. The last page of the pamphlet was photocopied and attached to a $10 donation check to the FAMU Foundation made by B. L. Perry, Jr. on November 2, 1976.
Betty Gray was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1903. She remembers the "Good Old Days" as a child growing up in Jackson when school days, games, and family all made for pleasant times. She also talks about her memories of the Farish Street District as well as Emmett Till and Martin Luther King, Jr. The transcript is edited with handwritten notes.
Black Entertainment Television (BET) was the first cable network dedicated to African Americans. In February 1994, BET and the Young Sisters and Brothers Magazine hosted their first annual Campus Tour at Florida A&M University, with events on professional media opportunities and a special taping of “Rap City Live,” where OutKast performed.
Bessie Warren took a job in 1972 at Lift Incorporated Community Action Agency in Tupelo, Mississippi, where she worked as a rotating teacher’s assistant. Later, she became Head Start Educational Coordinator and Career Development Officer, positions she had held for 12 years up to the time of the interview.
Bessie Funches began work as a teacher at the first Head Start in Gulfport, Mississippi (Harrison County Head Start) in 1966 and worked as a resource teacher for that summer. In 1973, Ms. Funches became Special Service Director of Harrison County Head Start. She talks about her experiences in the classrooms with the students and other workers.
Samples’ senior notebook includes his written philosophy of art and photographs of the artist’s works. As a part of the Texas Southern art curriculum under Dr. John T. Biggers and Professor Carroll Harris Simms, students would create these notebooks to explain their artistry and showcase the works they created as students.
