Knowledge. Truth. Inspiration.
|
|
|
|
|
|
~ Black History Matters ~ |
||
|
|
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
Immediate Release:
More Information: Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D.
Four Centuries of African American History in Journalism Featured In Special Black History Month Exhibit At the National Press Club in Washington, DC
"We are delighted to be able to showcase these all-too-often overlooked contributions of African Americans to our nation's progress though mass communications media", said Press Club President Jonathan D. Salant, political correspondent for Bloomberg News. After a Feb. 2nd VIP reception and opening, he said the exhibit will be on display for club members and student and special-interest group tours during February. The exhibit is being presented in cooperation with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Director Lonnie G. Bunch says, "We are pleased to collaborate with the National press Club in exhibiting these important artifacts of contributions Black Americans have made to our Nation." Its website is : http://nmaahc.si.edu/default.htm The National Press Club's exhibit of African American artifacts is part of the acclaimed Mark E. Mitchell Collection of African American History. Photos and descriptions of some of its rare pieces are found at the Collection's internet web site: http://www.blackhistorymatters.com Alison Bethel, Washington Bureau Chief for the Detroit News and the NPC Board of Governors Member who is coordinating arrangements for the exhibit, said, "As an African American, I am especially proud that our Club is able to share these treasures from our nation's history to help inspire Black youth to realize their full potential in journalism and other fields of endeavor." Collector Mark E. Mitchell, president & historian of the Mitchell Archives, said, "We are honored to have been selected for this prominent exhibition. It is our hope that more widespread awareness of this exceptional collection will stimulate greater interest in African American's triumph over adversity and their innumerable contributions to the quality of life which we all enjoy today." From the collection of over 4,000 artifacts, some of those deemed more appropriate which Ms. Bethel and her committee have selected for the exhibit are:
· Frederick Douglass - a Volume I issue of his legendary North Star newspaper
·
Phillis
Wheatley's 1773 original book, "Poems on Various Subjects,
Religious and Moral", · Freedom's Journal (New York, 1827) - a rare issue of the first Black newspaper
·
Martin Luther
King, Jr. signed TIME Magazine cover and signed letter on his
being · W.E.B. Dubois letter written on "The Crisis" stationery · Buffalo Soldiers in the Southwest -original 1886 Harper's Weekly illustrated newspaper
·
Abolitionist
Newspapers - The Liberator, the National Anti-Slavery
Standard, and a · Hiram Rhoads Revels - 1870 lithograph of the first African American U.S. Senator · Several other appropriate historical artifacts The National Press Club is located at 14th Street and F Streets, NW, one block west of Metro Center in Washington, DC. More information about the Club and its professional programs for journalists may be obtained by telephoning 202-662-7500 or at its web site http://www.press.org
|
|
Blacks' Role in Journalism to Be Featured
© 2006 The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The first book written by a black person. America's first black newspaper. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s signature on the Time magazine issue naming him "Man of the Year" for 1963, the year of his "I Have a Dream" speech at a historic civil rights march in Washington. These items and dozens of other works featuring blacks in journalism and their contributions to the profession are on display in the nation's capital for Black History Month. "Throughout several centuries, black contributions to journalism have been critical to educating and informing an entire class of people about events in its own community _ events ignored or largely neglected by the white press in America," said Mark E. Mitchell, a collector of black memorabilia. It is from Mitchell's collection of newspapers, books, letters and other artifacts that some 30 items were culled for the exhibit that will be on display throughout the month of February. Ride an elevator to the 13th floor of the National Press Club in downtown Washington, a few blocks from the White House. Step off and there in the lobby, behind a protective glass window, see the Time magazine cover of King that bears the slain civil rights leader's signature. In a thank-you letter to the publication's editors, King says his selection is not a reward for him alone, "but rather a tribute to the entire civil rights struggle and the millions of gallant people all over the nation who are working so untiringly to bring the American dream into reality." A 29-cent spiral notebook bearing author Alex Haley's name is said to document the writing of the final portion of his first major work, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X." Haley, who died in 1992, also used the notebook to record progress on his other writings, including "Before This Anger." That was the working title of what became his epic book, "Roots," in which he traced his family to one African man. "Basically, this is the diary of a working journalist," Mitchell said during a reception to launch the exhibit. It is being presented in conjunction with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is to be built on the National Mall near the Washington Monument. When the book "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" was published in 1773, it was the first written by a black person Phillis Wheatley, who was kidnapped from west Africa and transported to Boston where she was bought by John Wheatley. The exhibit includes copies of abolitionist newspapers, along with various news pages announcing milestones in black history, including Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Cassius Clay (now known as Muhammad Ali) winning boxing's world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in 1964, and King's assassination in 1968. Harvard scholar Carter G. Woodson, who actively promoted black education, gets credit for Black History Month. In 1926, Woodson organized Negro History Week, which took place during the second week of February. Over time, it evolved into a month long celebration of black history.
|
Black History Matters
Box 305, Gambrills, MD 21054
TEL 410.991.9718
FAX 410.729.0353
EMAIL
© 2008 Black History Matters™