Sylvia Stewart was born in the Farish Street District. Ms. Stewart talks about her experiences growing up in the district during the era of Jim Crow segregation; the business her grandfather and father owned; and her experiences with racism. The transcript is edited with handwritten notes.
Case Data and Exhibits for Brown III, a relitigation of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954) that corrected resegregation issues caused by open enrollment school choice in 1992. Charts showing Topeka Public Schools that are racially identifiable by virtue of staff assignments and charts showing different job categories of staff members.
Six page selection from Talks on Community Life, including a list of reference readings and a section on Black newspapers. Contains references to work by Monroe N. Work, Booker T. Washington, and Robert R. Moton. Undated, but latest date listed is 1932.
In this letter from Teddy Ik Umunna, a friend at the University of Nigeria, to Dr. B. L. Perry, Jr., Umunna pleads for help improving his quality of life. Reflecting on the dire state of the Nigerian economy, with allusions to bribery, Umunna asks for financial backing to leave Nigeria and enroll in a U.S. degree program in Wisconsin.
Jewell Woodard Simon was an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and poet from Houston, TX. Teen Enigma is a plaster bust of a young girl looking into the distance with her head raised. She is wearing a collared shirt with the top button clasped.
A Western Union telegram sent to Monroe N. Work at the State Normal School College in Georgia from Beaufort, South Carolina. Booker T. Washington states that he will be at Tuskegee between June 4th and 7th and hopes that Work can visit then.
A Postal Telegraph night telegram sent to Monroe N. Work at the Georgia State Industrial College in Savannah, Georgia from Tuskegee, Alabama. Booker T. Washington requests Work to meet him at the Seaboard Air Line Savannah Pullman car Friday night, May 29, at 8:25 pm.
O'Higgins' print shows two men balancing on a board and working on a cylindrical structure. Unlike most of the works held by the University Museum, O’Higgins had no connection to Texas Southern; this piece was donated by a collector. O'Higgins was an established artist in the 20th century and was mentored by Diego Rivera.
Shirley Bolton was a painter from Athens, GA. Tenement is a multimedia depiction of the entrance to a shared housing space. The dimensional browns of the buildings indicate the age and use of the tenement space. Three cardboard pieces on top of the painted surface add texture and form to the piece.
Case Data and Exhibits for Brown III, a relitigation of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954) that corrected resegregation issues caused by open enrollment school choice in 1992. A summary of a preliminary plan presented at a Topeka School Board meeting on April 30, 1974. The plan includes school closures, student reassignment, and more.
In the late 1940s, the Tallahassee City Commission planned to acquire some land surrounding Florida A&M College, a plan highly opposed by the institution’s president, William H. Gray, Jr. Gray felt it would drive faculty away due to lack of housing. This collection holds correspondence and construction plans.
A newspaper article from The News Tribune about forensic tests performed on the bodies of the victims and defendants in the murder trial of Assata Shakur (JoAnne Chesimard) being inconclusive to show that the defendants held or shot the weapons in question. Shakur was on trial for the 1973 killing of a state trooper.
This Texas Senate resolution commends the art students and faculty of Texas State University for Negroes (now Texas Southern University) for their exhibition in the State Capitol in April 1951. It is notable that this exhibition took place years before desegregation.
A card from the Jabbar Family to Frankye Adams-Johnson (Malika). This is a thank-you card to Frankye Adams-Johnson for her love and support during their family's time of grieving.
A letter from Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth to Chaplain Daniel Wynn, thanking Chaplain Wynn for the prayers and well wishes after Rev. Shuttlesworth and his wife had received physical injuries from participating in the civil rights movement.
A letter from President Luther H. Foster thanking Charles G. Gomillion for his hard work for the year. In addition, President Foster explained his visits to Indonesia, the far East and Africa for the university.
A letter thanking the 15,000 people of the Harlem community and “New York City’s Afrikan community” who came out on March 13, 1981, to show support for the brothers and sisters in Atlanta. The letter also announces a follow up meeting on March 25 with a potluck following on March 28.
This undated, black-and-white photograph features Julian “Cannonball” and Nathaniel “Nat” Adderley, jazz and blues musicians, and Reubin O’Donovan Askew, the governor of Florida in the 1970s. The Adderley brothers were Florida A&M students and Tallahassee jazz legends, playing saxophone (Cannonball) and cornet (Nat) with Ray Charles and others.
J. Brooks Dendy III was a painter, graphic artist, and educator from Pittsburgh, PA. The Allegheny Valleys depicts an aerial view of a mountain range, valley, and river in Western Pennsylvania.
James Newton was a painter, printmaker, scholar, and professor from Delaware. The American Sixties is an assemblage that symbolizes the political turmoil and militarization that arose in the 1960s after the Civil Rights Movement.
Richmond Barthe was a sculptor from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The Angry Christ is an intensely expressive bust of Christ. The bust is incredibly detailed, emphasizing Jesus of Nazareth's Semitic features.
Harper T. Phillips was an artist from Courtland, AL. The Ant is a painting with numerous geometric forms and lines in a vertical composition. Each white, yellow, green, and black shape lay in pocketed areas overlapping black borders and lines.
The Bicentennial Convocation program features autographs from notable figures and esteemed alumni, including Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., commemorating FAMU’s rich history and contributions to education and leadership across generations.
In October 1968, the College Board asked the president of the National Scholarship Service and Fund for Negro Students, Hugh W. Lane, if he could assemble a panel of Black educators to describe their position on higher education. Their comments at the panel were recorded and published in the College Board Review’s Spring 1969 Issue, recorded here.
Geraldine McCullough was a renowned painter and sculptor from Kingston, AR. The Black Knight depicts an abstract figure riding a creature like a horse. The figure is primarily black, with a twisted torso, and has masquerade-like attributes. The creature is predominantly black, with both ominous and mythical characteristics.
A political cartoon featuring a pig teaching a classroom of children with the quote “Today children we are going to talk about George Washington the father of your country and how he freed you from the colonial powers of England.” The 5th point from the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point program is printed at the bottom of the page.
