Community Outreach and Black Church Archives...Still.

In July 2016, I joined the Ingram Library as University Archivist and Assistant Professor at the University of West Georgia. A colleague encouraged me to apply to the position where there was an opportunity for me to create and lead a church-based community archives initiative. I also desperately wanted to move back down South to be closer to family, especially my newborn nephew.

Director of Special Collections and I at History Day

As University Archivist, my work primarily involves capturing, preserving, and making accessible content that is administratively and culturally significant to our campus, the stories of University Life.  I delight in hearing folk thoughtfully share the stories of their lives whether on campus or in the church. I still deeply enjoy doing public outreach to local churches and am thankful that my new position affords me opportunities continue this work. You can take the girl out the seminary library/church but you can't take the seminary library/church out of the girl. 

Just days into my tenure at UWG, I was invited to talk about preserving church records and family papers at Antioch AME Church History Day, Antioch A.M.E. Church has an incredibly rich history, being the first black church to be founded in Decatur, Georgia, after the Civil War (1868). In order to find and preserve the church’s past, members partnered with historians from the University of West Georgia (Center for Public History) and Agnes Scott College to collect, digitize and share records about Antioch. The result is the Antioch A.M.E Digital Archive (http://antiochamehistory.org/archive), an example of the recent turn in archival practice to building “community archives.”

 

At the lectern but never lecturing

I also  participated as a panelist in "Telling Our Own Stories: Developing a Community Archives Project at Antioch A.M.E. Church" at the historic Auburn Avenue Research Library. The panel explored the concept of “community archives,” the genesis and creation of the Antioch A.M.E. Digital Archive, and the opportunities and challenges of partnership between community organizations and academic institutions at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, Atlanta, GA. I contributed perspective on Community Archives and applications for the study of Black Church history in the academy and incorporating local church history in Christian Education at the congregational level.

Check out this article I wrote about Sharing Community Stories http://saportareport.com/sharing-saving-community-stories/

Greene County Archives Exhibit on Relationship Between Payne Theological Seminary and Wilberforce University

In mid-Summer 2015, Payne Theological Seminary partnered with the Greene County Archives & Records Center on a K-12 curriculum and outreach program focusing on local African-American history. Themed lessons include manumission, Wilberforce area family histories and educational opportunities available to African Americans through Wilberforce, Central State, and Payne Theological Seminary.

Payne’s contribution authored by our archival intern and Antioch College student Ciana Ayenu, tells the story of the Seminary's development and change from its founding in 1891 to 1939, when the institution had been established for nearly 50 years. The small exhibit which has just gone “live” features items from the Payne Theological Seminary and A.M.E. Church Archive on the Princeton Theological Commons and un-digitized items from the archives.

To see the exhibit visit Greene County Archives’ Family History Page:
http://www.co.greene.oh.us/index.aspx?NID=952

Final Report of the "Arrangement and Description of the Payne African Methodist Episcopal Church Archive" Grant Project (Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board)

Payne Theological Seminary received funding of $1,960.00 from the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board to purchase Re: discovery Software Inc. (RSI)’s Proficio Elements archival management software to inventory, arrange, describe and create electronic finding aids for two significant primary source collections by and about the seminary and African Methodist Episcopal Church denomination, The George A. Singleton and Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom Collections.
This final report details Payne's work on Arrangement and Description of the Payne African Methodist Episcopal Church Archive project and significant progress made toward our goal of reprocessing and arranging more than 10 linear ft.1 of holdings from our special collections. Read the report below!

http://www.ohrab.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Payne-Theological-Seminary-Final-Report.pdf

Relabeled and Brand Spanking New Labeled Hollinger Boxes

The expanded Ransom Collection

We will be printing new labels soon! I know the Post-Its are TACKY!

National Park Service Centennial Story Corps Project @ Payne Theological Seminary- November 2, 2015

I'm always seeking after genuine connection. In my personal life and in my professional work, collaboration is the name of the game. 

My friendship with Dr. Joy Kinard, Superintendent of the Colonel Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument is one of the most sincere connections I've established since arriving in the Wilberforce, Ohio area. We've chatted about libraries, museums, African American historical collections, imposter syndrome, God, dating, and have bonded deeply together over being transplants in our new community (Joy moved to Wilberforce in March 2015).   

Library literature and trends in our own institutions have proven that collaboration is both innovative and economically advantageous. When libraries, museums, and institutional archives collaborate we must first determine how a prospective partnership benefits all strategically, economically, socially, intellectually, and culturally? What investments make sense?  Does it advance our institutional goals? Does it serve our constituency well?

When Dr. Kinard told me she was looking for a place to host the NPS Centennial Story Corps Project, I jumped at the opportunity to partner and connect once again. I knew that this would be great a collaboration because the Payne administrators were musing about the Library as a “place to play and pray”. We had also been discussing personal narrative, spiritual formation, and Payne Seminary as a spiritual retreat during our faculty meetings.

 

The Ransom Memorial Library features two meeting rooms for quiet study. During our walk through of the building with Dr. Kinard, it was decided that one of the rooms would serve as a welcome area for attendees. 

The Story Corps program was a WONDERFUL collaboration for Payne. It gave us the opportunity to invite community members into our space, many of whom were visiting for the first time. We also were able to establish relationships (and in some cases strengthen/reimagine) with Wilberforce gatekeepers and learn about existing partnerships in the community. I learned that Dr. Ski, who I had previously known as an ambassador for Payne and the Wilberforce Community, is a celebrated Paul Lawrence Dunbar Scholar. While waiting for to be interviewed Dr. Ski  talked about growing up on the campus of the Historically Black Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, FL where here mother taught. She told us an amazing story about seeing Marian Anderson sing as a young girl. Do you see what happens when folks already primed to tell stories?!?! Oral history just keeps on spilling out! 

I am so glad that Dr. Kinard brought Story Corps to Wilberforce and directly to the Ransom Library doors. It really was an incredible experience. For more information about Story Corps and to see pictures/listen to two of the oral histories captured that day, keep on scrolling! 

The first Interviewees are checked in. Sisters, the Honorable Mayor of Xenia, Marsha Bayless and Payne's very own Marilyn Hatcher, retired Community Outreach Coordinator

Booker/Gooding Interview

89-year-old Jessie Gooding and his 85-year-old friend, Loretta Booker, recall their time at Wilberforce University in Ohio. They discuss its legacy as the oldest private historically black institution in the United States.

Warren Family Interview

91-year-old Harold Warren Jr. tells his son, Lee Warren, about serving as a "Buffalo Solider" duringWW II and his feelings about the Charles Young Buffalo Solider National Monument in Ohio.

In partnership with StoryCorps, the Midwest Region of the National Park Service (NPS) is celebrating the NPS Centennial through sharing and preserving our favorite parks memories. The Stories from the Midwest project will tour our region to record conversations with the local communities, visitors, and employees of the parks, using the StoryCorps interview model: a 40-minute conversation between two people who know each other well.

The NPS Centennial Stories from the Midwest project will: 

• Celebrate the diversity of the National Parks in the Midwest Region, with stops that include parks, monuments, historic sites, and the first National River.

• Create a valuable archive of interviews that individual parks are encouraged to access and use.

• Demonstrate why these “places to play in and pray in” have captivated Americans for 100 years through first-hand, personal stories.

Handy Dandy, what to expect from StoryCorps.org

• Contribute to the centennial goal to connect with and create the next generation of park visitors, supporters, and advocates.

ABOUT THE PARKS CENTENNIAL

The National Park Service and National Park Foundation are working closely with partners and stakeholders across the country to ensure that the Centennial is more than a birthday. We want every American to embrace the opportunities to explore, learn, be inspired or to simply have fun in their 407 national parks, as well as understand how we bring our work, and the national park experience, to them through our community-based recreation, conservation, and historic preservation programs.

ABOUT STORYCORPS

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and preserve the stories of our lives. Since 2003, nearly one hundred thousand everyday people have recorded their stories with StoryCorps; it is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind Several million people listen to StoryCorps’ weekly broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition. https://storycorps.org/about/  

#TheDailyRecord Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

How can archival documents help us learn more about the sequence of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s voter registration campaigns and the role of Dr. Martin Luther King in mobilizing donors to fund the movement?  In a 1962-1963 fundraising letter in the George A. Singleton Special Collection at Payne, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes on behalf of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “I am Martin Luther King, Jr. I want to tell you about the secret weapon that may win the battle for human dignity in the South”.

 In this particular letter King uses the election of a “Negro” to the Georgia Senate, the first in 92 years to persuade donors to that they are in a crucial moment, “When you write your write your check you write history”. Another digitized letter dated March 1963, from the University of Kentucky containing much of the same message excludes the paragraph about the election the to the George Senate and instead emphasizes that “more than 40,000 Negro voters were added to the registration roles last year”. Which was written first? What’s the purpose of including the Georgia contests? Are there different audiences? How stylistic features different (personal address, built in return envelope, hand signed rather than mass generated signature)? Explore the differences between the two letters by visiting: http://nyx.uky.edu/dips/xt7j0z70xm3d/data/2012ua022/2012ua022_1/82805/82805.pdf

#TheDailyRecord Vinyl in the Archive

Not just old papers! The archives also are home to a number of multimedia formats including long play albums popularly known as vinyl records. A.M.E.’s have been recording their regular meetings since the organization of the denomination. Pioneers in Protest: A Civil Rights Documentary is a recording of the May 1964 General Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio keynoted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Excerpts from his appearance are included along with commentary from Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary, NAACP, A. Phillip Randolph, Pres. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Daisy Bates, Little Rock, Arkansas-School Protest Leader. 

Partners in Mission, is an album of the 16^th District Youth Convention and Welcome Meetings for the Connectional Y.P.D. Board Meeting of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. General Conference 1976 is double album featuring a collage and sticker based legend for identifying Bishops and General Officers. 

#TheDailyRecord Women of Agency: The Bishops’ Wives

Rarely are archival photographs accompanied by text identifying the names and titles of those pictured. Researchers are required to do their own investigation into the time period often based on the quality of the photo, the dress of those featured, and any identifying features in the background of the frame. The Wives of the Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at the General Conference, Columbus, Ohio, May 1900 bucks the norm. Neatly tucked into the clear polypropylene sheet protecting the photograph are two typed pages listing the women in the order of their seating arrangement along with a short bio for detailing her work beyond the title of “wife”. Who is responsible for the preserving the photo and bios? Who wrote the bios? Did the Bishops Wives provide information to the author? Aren’t you glad we have the opportunity to read them?

Seated Left to Right:
MARY FRISBY HANDY-The second wife of Bishop James A. Handy whom she married in 1886; born in Baltimore, a tailor’ was widowed before she was married to the President Elder James A. Handy; served as President of the Women’s Parent Mite Missionary Society.

FLORIDA MORRIS GRANT- Born in Florida; Married to Bishop Abram Grant; sister to Louisa Rebecca Morris Armstrong Grant; President of the Women’s Parent Mite Missionary Society.

SARAH E. MILLER TANNER-Born on May 18, 1840 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’ educated at Avery College, and married to Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner in 1858; seven children among whom was the first black woman admitted to practice medicine in Alabama, Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson; famed artist, Henry O. Tanner; A.M.E. minister and missionary to South Africa, Carlton M. Tanner; charter member and Treasurer of the Women’s Parent Mite Missionary Society.

JULIA A. CAMPER GAINES-Wife of Bishop Wesley J. Gaines who she married on August 30, 1863; born probably in Georgia; described as “small in stature, a black but dignified woman…an efficient housekeeper”.

MARY LOUISE GORDON ARNETT-wife of Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett whom she married on May 25, 1858; an Ohio native; there were seven children two of whom were clergymen-Reverends Benjamin W. Arnett, Jr. and Henry Y. Arnett.

M.L. ASHE LEE-wife of Bishop Benjamin F. Lee; born in Alabama and the mother of four children.

PRISCILLA SMITH SALTER-Married to Bishop Moses B. Salter on September 2, 1874; a South Carolina native. In 1895 she along with Christine Shoecraft Smith called a national women’s convention in Nashville to “discuss questions of interest to the colored women and to obtain for them a better recognition in the councils of their church”. Mrs. Salter gave a paper on “Social Purity”

Standing from Left to Right:
MRS. MORRIS M. MOORE- widow of Bishop Morris M. Moore; according to a black female contemporary she was “one of Florida’s most prominent women, greatly beloved by the Florida brethren because of her worth and ability to together with her earnest and courageous work in whatever field she is called upon to labor for the Master (Jesus Christ)”.

MRS. EVANS TYREE-wife of Bishop Evans Tyree; their son Herman, became a minister.

CHRISTINE SHOECRAFT SMITH-second wife of Bishop Charles S. Smith whom she married in 1888; born in Muncie, Indiana; in Alabama she was vice president of the State Normal and Industrial School; active in the National Association of Colored Women; joined Priscilla Smith Salter in spearheading the national women’s convention in Nashville in 1895. Her son, Charles Jr., was an early black graduate of the University of Michigan.

LOUISA REBECCA MORRIS ARMSTRONG GRANT-born in Florida in 1852; sister of Florida Morris Grant; widow of Bishop Josiah H. Armstrong whom she married on May 15, 1870; she was widowed in 1898; wife of Bishop Abram Grant whom she married on October 23, 1902; she was widowed again worked as a matron at Wilberforce University in Ohio after the death of Bishop Armstrong.

LILLIAN M. DERRICK-wife of Bishop William B. Derrick; president of the Women’s Parent Mite Missionary Society; she died in 1907; the Lillian Derrick Institute which Bishop Derrick founded in South Africa was named in her honor.

HARRIED WAYMAN TURNER-widow of Bishop Alexander W. Wayman who died in1895; served as president of the Women’s Parent Mite Missionary Society from 1878 through 1883; became the third wife of Bishop Henry M. Turner in 1900.

ANNIE MARIE TAYLOR SHAFFER-wife of Bishop Cornelius T. Shaffer whom she married in 1870; born in Lexington, Kentucky; they were the parents of two daughters and one son; the son, Carl like Bishop Shaffer earned a M.D. degree.

FANNY M. JACKSON COPPIN-second wife of Bishop Levi J. Coppin whom she married in 1881; born a slave in Washington, D.C. in 1837; her aunt purchased her freedom; reared in Newport, Rhode Island where she attended the Rhode Island State Normal School; was graduated from Oberlin College in 1865 with the A.B. degree; Institute of Colored Youth in Philadelphia; in 1869 she became principal of the whole school; she retired in 1902; she was active with the National Association of Colored Women. She died on January 21, 1913.