Ignorance, Tolerance, Acceptance

On Tuesday, I was invited to attend an intercultural diversity meeting on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. At the forefront of the meeting was the question: how does race play a role in the available resources and upbringing of many present-day African Americans. Several natives of Chestertown expressed their disappointment in their community not progressing much from the Civil Rights Era (http://www.chestertownspy.com/spycam-race-in-chestertown/). Housing developments, occupations, businesses, and social gatherings are as much segregated as they were sixty years ago. These discrepancies are also prevalent in other regions of Maryland, not just in Chesterton nor just on the Eastern Shore.

My grandmother, or “Mom-Mom” as I call her, has shared many stories with me of how things “used to be.” Several months ago, I invited my Mom-Mom to have lunch with me at Washington College, now my alma mater, and I’ll never forget what she told me later that day. She stated, “I never thought I would eat at Washington College.” That simple statement struck a cord within me because I knew exactly what she was alluding to. My Mom-Mom is born and raised in Kent County and has a clear memory of how races did not fraternize with one another in certain establishments. Some doors she was not permitted to pass through because she was of African descent. The mentality of separate-facilities-for-separate-races continued to resonate with her, even though two of her grandchildren had graduated from Washington College.

Although I am of a much younger generation than my Mom-Mom, I still see the lack of integration across the state of Maryland. The way things “used to be” appear to not have changed much, if at all. Instead of confronting the issue of race, the trend has been to detour around the subject and then forget the timeline of events that took place some time ago; before and after “the necessary evil” known as American slavery. What happened cannot be changed, but it can be understood. A clear understanding does not come from denying racial disparities, nor does it come from tolerating those who are of a different color. Understanding comes from acknowledging cultural differences and still being accepting of those difference, despite stereotypes, exaggerations, and lies that have trickled down generations into the twenty-first century.

If an individual knocks over a glass of orange juice, whether intentional or accidental, that individual has to eventually clean up the mess. A spill of racial injustice was made, that America has yet to clean up. The spill has been covered up and left to air dry, but the stain still remains. The spill cannot be cleaned up until citizens, including blacks, are thoroughly educated about African American history (thus eliminating their ignorance), and mature from tolerating African Americans to accepting them and their culture. This is why African American museums (i.e the Banneker-Douglass Museum) and historical sites are so important and need community support to sustain their existence.

The bystander effect has been in affect for too long. It is time for everyone to take initiative in bridging the racial gaps--from education, residential areas, professional careers, and extracurricular activities. We are all running in this race of unity together. Our children and our children’s children are depending on us to be examples for them; to train them, so that when we pass the baton of life onto them, they are adequately prepared to continue on and succeed.

-- Joyell Johnson, BDM Volunteer Maryland Coordinator

Retracing the Steps of a Lion

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness." Approximately nine years after King was born, Walter Mills, a former teaching principal at Parole Elementary School, decided he would walk in the light.

The Lion and the Fox, a play written by Mill's son-in-law, T. G. Cooper, is the story of how Mills' altruism defeated destructive sefiness. The play was imaginatively staged in front of a packed housed at the Banneker-Douglass Museum by Dr. Vivian Spencer, an Anne Arundel County Community College professor, to reveal the racial tension of the time.

The cast featured such dignitaries as Judge Clayton Greene, Jr., Court of Appeals, 5th Appellate Circuit as Thurgood Marshall; Chuck Farrar, former Anne Arundel County Councilman, played Noah Hillman, the lawyer for the County; Dr. Kevin Maxwell, the present Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent, played former Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent, George Fox; and Vincent Leggett, the former head of Black in the Chesapeake Foundation, played Music Brown. Anthony Spencer reprised the lead role of Walter Mills.

In Loving Memory of Irene S. Mills

Irene S. Mills, wife of pay parity plaintiff, Walter Mills, died on Monday, October 25, 2010 at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She was born on Valentine's day in Morgnec, a small community in Kent County, Maryland. She was the fifth of eight children. She received her elementary school education at Joshua's Chapel. Because Morgnec did not have a high school where African Americans could attend, she traveled by horse and buggy to stay at her aunt's house during the week, so she could attend Garnett High School. Her persistance and hard work generated great dividends. She graduated as the valedictorian from Garnett High School in 1929. In 1931, she again graduated as the valedictorian; this time from Bowie Normal School. She went on to receive a M. A. from New York University. While engaged in the pursuit to obtain more knowledge, she met Walter Mills on the campus of Hampton Institute. The couple married ten years later.

She spent forty-six years serving the children of Maryland as an educator. She taught at Garnett Elementary School in Kent County for eighteen years. In addition, she also taught at Ralph J. Bunch Elementary School and Adams Park Elementary School. She also served as the principal of Ralph J. Bunch Elementary School and Germantown Elementary School, both in Annapolis.

Like her husband, she was involved in several civic organizations. She was the past president of the Salvation Army Board of Directors. She was also a member of United Methodist Women, American Association of University Women, the Friends of Banneker-Douglass Museum, and the Banneker-Douglass Museum Foundation, whose last meeting she attended. Indeed, her presence at the Friends' and the Foundation's meetings will be missed.

Her husband of 45 years, Walter Mills, died in 1994. She is survived by her daughter, Valerie Mills Cooper, her sister, Alberta Smack, and two grandchildren, Irene Cooper and Royia Cooper Wilson.

Haunted House of History

As Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I would devote my blog posting this month to a question I start to get on my tours and interactions with visitors around this time of year -- is the museum haunted?

When I first started at the museum in 2007, I would get this question every so often when I led tours of the former Mount Moriah Church building. Since the building was constructed in 1874, people thought the building's age equated to a haunted building. I always laughed when I got the question and answered "No, the building isn't haunted. No ghosts here." The person asking the question along with everyone else in their group would smile and breathe a small sigh of relief that I didn't share some spooky story that would have them looking over their shoulder during the remainder of their visit.

Nowadays, I am not so sure. In the past 3.5 years I have been working at the museum we have had some very bizarre unexplained occurrences that no one in the museum can explain to this day. These occurrences always happen after the museum closes for the evening and are seen by staff members when we stay late working. And they are almost always in the former sanctuary of the Mount Moriah building. We have only had one strange unexplained phenomenon occur in the new addition to the building, however that occurrence was a rather big one.

Submitted for your approval: the first of 3 stories from the Banneker-Douglass Museum staff on unexplained events at the museum. I will post the other two stories throughout the week. It is for you to decide, is the museum haunted or is it not?

Light the Night

During the winter of 2008, Exhibitions Specialist Amelia Harris and I stayed late working one evening in the exhibitions office on a new exhibition. The exhibitions office is located on the 3rd floor of the new building, has no windows to see outside the office, and large heavy doors that muffle most sound from entering the office. We were the last remaining people in the building and stayed until nearly 7:00 p.m. As it was wintertime, night fell early and it was completely dark as we prepared to leave for the night. We left the exhibitions office for the evening with Amelia departing the museum and I returned to my office in the lower level of the former church building to shut down my office before leaving for the night.

When I left the museum 5 minutes later, I looked up at the sanctuary windows in the lobby and did not notice anything amiss, noting all of the museum lights were off and everything was properly shut down for the night. However when I went outside and looked up I saw the windows in the front of the church completely lit up. Since I had been in the lobby only moments before as well as when we came down in the elevator, I was more than a little spooked. I immediately called Amelia and asked her if she had noticed anything when she left and she agreed with me that the lights had most certainly been turned off. She drove back to the building and stayed on the phone with me while I re-entered and went up to the sanctuary to investigate. Needless to say, I was a little unsettled. When I walked in the sanctuary, lo and behold, the lights on the rose window were shining brightly for all to see. I quickly made my way to the second floor of the sanctuary where I shut off the light and made a hasty exit lest I run into whomever turned the lights on. Once back outside the building Amelia and I checked and rechecked to make sure the lights didn't come back on.

To further your deliberation on the haunting aspect, when the museum is shut down for the evening all of the lights are shut off at 4:00 p.m. You have to physically walk past the area that was lit twice to turn off all of the lights on the second floor of the sanctuary alone.

What do you think? Haunted or my imagination?  Have you ever encountered a ghost or had a scary sighting?

Haunting story number 2 in a few days....

So, Why Am I Here?

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

~Zora Neale Hurston, Harlem Renaissance writer

I wholeheartedly agree with Zora Neale Hurston’s definition of research, regardless of the subject. Being selected as the Volunteer Maryland Coordinator for the 2010-2011 service year at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, has granted me access to satisfy my own “curiosity” about African American history, museum operations, and…myself.

For those who may not know, my name is Joyell Johnson and will be working with the Education and Public Programs manager, Genevieve Kaplan, as the museum’s Volunteer Maryland Coordinator. The Banneker-Douglass Museum has partnered with Volunteer Maryland, a second year, to enhance its volunteer program by recruiting and supervising volunteers. Excitement does not begin to describe my attitude about working with the Banneker-Douglass Museum; I am ecstatic and optimistic about what the coming year entails.

I recently graduated from Washington College, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities and concentration in Black Studies. I have been a resident of Kent County for ten years and previously grew up in Europe. While at Washington College, I was a 2009 Comegys Bight Fellow and my research topic was “The Evolution of the African American Woman: The Mammy Caricature.” The research I conducted was instrumental for the research project I am currently completing, “The Evolution of the African American Woman: From Mammy to Michelle Obama.” I hope to pursue this topic further in graduate school next fall. Like the museum, I am also committed to preserving African American history, which is why I plan to earn my Ph.D. in the field.

I feel honored to be added to the team at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, even if for a short time.

Taking It to the Streets

During the African American Cultural Festival in Baltimore County, Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley began shaking the hands of Marylanders at the table sponsored by the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives (GOCI). GOCI distributed over a thousand pieces of literature concerning the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, programs for African Americans, and the Banneker-Douglass Museum to festival attendees. In addition, GOCI staff members informed festival participants about the various events and programs GOCI hosts, answered their questions regarding the various aspects of Maryland's African American history and culture, and provided activities for children, such as creating stars out of paper.

Pictured: Genevieve Kaplan shows a girl how to create a star as Lynn Waller looks on.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Garrison!

The staff of the Banneker-Douglass Museum wishes Mrs. Garrison a very happy birthday! We hope you enjoy your special day! May you have many more!

Pictured from left to right: Mrs. Garrison and Lynn Waller, archivist of the Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library.

Introducing Lela J. Sewell-Willams

Lela Johnson Sewell-Williams, is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in American History and Black Studies from South Carolina State University and her Master of Arts degree in American History with a concentration in Archives, Museums and Historical Editing from Duquesne University. Ms. Sewell-Williams resigned from her position as the Assistant Curator of Manuscripts within the Manuscript Division of Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University to found Preserve Your Story, an archival consulting firm, which identifies and fosters the preservation of historical materials with a specialized interest in the promotion of family, community, cultural and corporate records reflecting the African Diaspora. She is currently serving as the Dance Archivist and an adjunct professor within the Dance Major program at Howard University, Washington, D.C.

As a member of the professional history and cultural preservation communities, as well as a member of the African Diaspora, she has a vested interest in the preservation of the history and culture of those of African descent. Being a student of these professional and cultural communities has served as a catalyst toward her decision to pursue a career in the field of archival preservation. As the first archivist at South Carolina State University (a centennial Historical Black College and University), as well as serving as the project archivist for the Robert “Bob” Johnson Dance Collection (founder of the Pittsburgh Black Theater Dance Ensemble) has afforded her a diversity of opportunities to work with personal as well as organizational records and artifacts. Additionally, she served as a Manuscripts Librarian within the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Book division of The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library located in Harlem, New York. While at the Schomburg Center Sewell-Williams served as the initiator and project archivist for the Center’s Hip-Hop Archive Project. These professional experiences have enabled the chance to develop, implement and apply archival polices and procedures. Through a collaboration of Moorland Spingarn Research Center and Howard University’s Dance department, Sewell-Williams has developed an initiative to collect the records of regional black dance companies and through the project has established a dance archive.

Intern at the Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library!

Archival Assistant (Contractual Position)

The Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library seeks an intern to serve as an Archival Assistant. The incumbent will assist with the arranging, describing, cataloguing, and preserving of historical manuscripts and photographs. The incumbent must be proficient in Microsoft Word. Experience in Past Perfect Museum software, library science, archival science, or African American history is preferred.

The Archival Assistant will work approximately 20 hours per week during the summer on a flexible schedule; the stipend is $2,500.00.

Please email your letter of interest, including availability, and resume to LWaller@goci.state.md.us by June 8, 2010.

Summer at the Banneker-Douglass Museum

Summer is quickly approaching which means it is time for the Banneker-Douglass Museum to switch to summer hours. What does this mean? Beginning Tuesday, June 1, 2010, through Labor Day weekend, the museum will be open on Sundays from 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. and on Thursdays until 7:00 p.m. The museum will also close to the public on Tuesdays.

Also, the museum will be closed on Friday, May 28 and Saturday May 29 for Memorial Day.

Here is the summer hours schedule which will run from Tuesday, June 1, 2010 through September 5, 2010.

Sunday:            1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Monday:          CLOSED
Tuesday:          CLOSED
Wednesday:     10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Thursday:         10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Friday:             10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday:         10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Carr's and Sparrow's Beach Images Needed!

The Banneker-Douglass Museum Education Department has worked with the Annapolis High School African American history classes and the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation over the spring to document the people, places, and events connected to Carr's and Sparrow's Beaches on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula. Throughout the semester we have visited the former site of the beaches and interviewed attendees, performers, and employees of the beaches to uncover their history.

The result of our efforts will be a short documentary on the beaches told through the people who were there to the high school juniors and seniors. The documentary is in its final stages of production now and we need your help. We are looking for images from the beaches to be included in the documentary. The images can be of people, memorabilia, or location shots. The museum is more than happy to scan and/or photograph the objects if you can bring them to us.

We need the images very quickly - no later than this Thursday, May 27! If you have images and/or objects you are willing to share, please contact Genevieve Kaplan, Education & Public Programs Manager, at 410.216.6186 or at GKaplan@goci.state.md.us.

Thanks!

African American Heritage Preservation Grants Announced

Governor Martin O’Malley today signed into law a bill that establishes the African American Heritage Preservation Program to identify and preserve buildings, communities and sites of historical and cultural importance to the African American experience in Maryland. The program will be administered as a joint partnership of the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC).

“The heritage preservation program will help restore a multi-cultural landscape while capturing the uniqueness of Maryland’s rich and diverse history and stimulating increased dialogue among individuals, groups, and sites,” said Commission Chair, Theodore Mack.

Governor O’Malley was joined at the bill signing ceremony by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, Speaker of the House Michael Busch and sponsor of the bill, Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller.

“This program provides us with a new opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the State's communities and to tell the story of the African American experience in Maryland for the benefit of residents and visitors alike,” said Maryland Department of Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall.

The African American Heritage Preservation Program also provides support for the acquisition, construction, and capital improvement of buildings and communities of importance to the history of African Americans in Maryland. This competitive program, offered once per year, is supported through an annual appropriation from the Maryland General Assembly. The legislation requires the Governor to include $1,000,000 in the annual capital budget submission for the program for specified fiscal years. Grant awards generally range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $100,000.

For assistance in the development of project scope and purpose, contact Dr. Joni Jones, (MCAAHC) at (410) 216-6180. For assistance with capital project and technical preservation issues, contact Michael Day (MHT) at (410) 514-7629.

Application materials for the upcoming grant round will be available in the coming weeks, pending the approval of the final program regulations.

The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture serves as the statewide clearinghouse for preserving evidence of and documenting the African American experience in Maryland. It specializes in the collection and preservation of historical materials: art objects, memorabilia, manuscripts, photographs, and other articles of significance to African American history and culture. For the community at large and Maryland educational systems and institutions, the Commission provides exhibits, programs, and resource materials.

The Maryland Historical Trust is a state agency dedicated to preserving and interpreting the legacy of Maryland’s past. Through research, conservation and education, the Trust assists the people of Maryland in understanding their historical and cultural heritage. The Trust is an agency of the Maryland Department of Planning and serves as Maryland’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
 
Click here for more information including eligibility requirements, application process, and timelines.
 
Click here for information on available grants from the Maryland Historical Trust.

MCAAHC-Meeting Reminder--May 3, 2010

The next meeting of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture is Monday, May 3 at 10am at the American Legion Post 77--102 Glenwood Avenue, Easton, MD 21601in Easton MD. Agenda highlights include a multiagency presentation by the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, the Department of Natural Resources, and the counties of Dorchester and Caroline about Harriet Tubman commemorative projects. There will also be a discussion of the proposed African American Heritage Preservation grant program.

Reservations are encouraged, but not required. To make a reservation or to be added to the agenda, please contact Genevieve Kaplan by May 2 at: 410-216-6186 or GKaplan@GOCI.state.md.us.

Free. The public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.

The mission of the MD Commission on African American History and Culture is to discover, document, preserve, collect, and promote Maryland’s African American heritage. The Commission also provides technical assistance to institutions and groups with similar objectives. Through the accomplishment of this mission, the MCAAHC seeks to educate Maryland citizens and visitors to our state about the significance and impact of the African American experience in Maryland.

Dr. Dorothy Height

Dr. Dorothy Irene Height - March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010

Dorothy Height, civil rights activist, died Tuesday at the age of 98. Height had been staying at Howard University Hospital for some time. Height had been a longtime activitist for equality and civil rights. She rallied, marched and supported several icons including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1957, Height became the President of the National Council of Negro Women and held that position until 1997. In 1994, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton.

The late activist C. DeLores Tucker once called Height an icon to all African-American women. “I call Rosa Parks the mother of the civil rights movement,” Tucker said in 1997. “Dorothy Height is the queen.”

In a statement, Obama called her "the godmother of the civil rights movement" and a hero to Americans. "Dr. Height devoted her life to those struggling for equality ... and served as the only woman at the highest level of the civil rights movement — witnessing every march and milestone along the way," Obama said. Vice President Joe Biden said Height was one of the first people to visit him when he first took his seat in the Senate in 1973. "She remained a friend and would never hesitate to tell me or anybody else when she thought we weren't fighting hard enough," he said.

The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and other awards, she was accorded a place of honor on the dais on Jan. 20, 2009, when Barack Obama took the oath of office as the nation’s 44th president. Ms. Height was the author of a memoir, “Open Wide the Freedom Gates” (Public Affairs, 2003), with a foreword by Maya Angelou. The New York Times Book Review called the book “a poignant short course in a century of African-American history.”

Ms. Height was born in Richmond, Va. The family moved to the Pittsburgh area when she was 4. In her memoir, she recalled marching as a teenager in Times Square in an anti-lynching rally. She went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New York University and did postgraduate work at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Work.

Ms. Height, who never married, was a longtime resident of Washington. She is survived by a sister, Anthanette Aldridge of New York City.

Dr. Benjamin Hooks

January 31, 1925 – April 15, 2010
Dr. Hooks, who led of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for 16 years, died Thursday at the age of 85.Hooks was unanimously elected president of NAACP in 1977. To take the position, Hooks resigned as a commissioner on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. He was the first black to have served as a member of the FCC. He worked to improve black’s image, and employment and ownership opportunities on radio and television.
The progressive leader of the NAACP played an important role in many battles in Washington. Amoung them is his lead in the historical Prayer Vigil in 1979, which was instrumental in defeating in Congress the Mott anti-busing amendment. He also lobbied enough votes in Congress for passage of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Bill.
A lawyer by profession, Hooks was the first black judge in the Shelby County Criminal Court in Tennessee. Hooks was born in Memphis to a middle-class family. He studied as LeMoyne College in Memphis and at Howard University in Washington, DC. In 1948, he received his law degree from DePaul University. “He’s had an amazing career,” said Julian Bond, a former head of the Atlanta branch of the N.A.A.C.P. “Judge, F.C.C. commissioner, minister of churches in two different cities at the same time, businessman, head of the N.A.A.C.P. Most people do one or two things in their lifetimes. He’s just done an awful lot.”Mr. Hooks was also an inspirational leader whose oratory was reminiscent of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which had Mr. Hooks as one of its board members. Mixing quotations from Shakespeare or Keats with the cadence and idioms of his native Mississippi Delta, Mr. Hooks thrilled his largely black following in his speeches. “There is a beauty in it and a power in it,” Mr. Hooks once said of his and other black preachers’ speaking style.In 2007, President George W. Bush presented Mr. Hooks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.