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100% Complete

14 Total pages

35 Contributing members

Elizabeth Catlett, undated, Side 1

Please view the instructions for transcribing audio collections before beginning. Pearl Bowser (b. 1931) is a renowned African American film scholar, filmmaker, author, and film/conference programmer. She is widely recognized as an expert on the works of Oscar Micheaux, who is considered the first major African American filmmaker. Working as a researcher from the 1960s through the early 2000s, Bowser travelled the world interviewing actors, actresses, filmmakers, and scholars, including Lorenzo Tucker, Gordon Parks, Arthur Jafa, Edna Mae Harris, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others. As a programmer (1971-2012), she organized conferences and film festivals that focused on the rich, yet often obscure, history of African Americans in film. The audio in this project is from unique recordings of the interviews, conferences, and film festivals captured by Pearl Bowser. Some of the recordings may have lower quality and require close attention to understand the content, and some speakers may not be identified, or the recordings may not include the beginning of their remarks. If a speaker cannot be identified either by context in the recording or by notes from the project team, please list them as “unidentified speaker” in the transcription. Some of the recordings may contain sensitive or offensive language. For historical accuracy, our policy is to transcribe the language as it is presented in the recordings. See TC’s FAQ page for more information on transcribing sensitive language. All recordings are in the English language. The transcriptions created by TC volunteers will be used to make these unique and important recordings accessible to researchers, scholars, and the general public.

100% Complete

10 Total pages

20 Contributing members

"Profile of a Race Riot" (1971) by Ed Wheeler

In late May 1921, the thriving African American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, suffered the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history. It was one in a series of actions of racist violence that convulsed the United States in towns and cities beginning with the period of Reconstruction in the late 19th century. In Tulsa, as in all of these massacres, white mobs destroyed Black communities, property, and lives. A century after the riot, the people of Tulsa and the nation continue to struggle to reckon with the massacre’s multiple legacies. Help us transcribe this magazine insert from Impact Magazine with a story by Ed Wheeler about the Tulsa Race Massacre.

100% Complete

340 Total pages

0 Contributing members

Pearl Bowser Audiovisual Collection

Pearl Bowser (b. 1931) is a renowned African American film scholar, filmmaker, author, and film/conference programmer. She is widely recognized as an expert on the works of Oscar Micheaux, who is considered the first major African American filmmaker. Working as a researcher from the 1960s through the early 2000s, Bowser travelled the world interviewing actors, actresses, filmmakers, and scholars, including Lorenzo Tucker, Gordon Parks, Arthur Jafa, Edna Mae Harris, Toni Cade Bambara, and many others. As a programmer (1971-2012), she organized conferences and film festivals that focused on the rich, yet often obscure, history of African Americans in film. The audio in this project is from unique recordings of the interviews, conferences, and film festivals captured by Pearl Bowser. Some of the recordings may contain sensitive or offensive language. For historical accuracy, our policy is to transcribe the language as it is presented in the recordings. See TC’s FAQ page for more information on transcribing sensitive language. All recordings are in the English language. The transcriptions created by TC volunteers will be used to make these unique and important recordings accessible to researchers, scholars, and the general public. In 2012, Bowser donated her collection to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). The preservation of the forty-one audiocassettes selected for this project was made possible through a joint venture between the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative (AWHI) and the Smithsonian Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative (AVMPI).

Subprojects

"The Tulsa Race Riot and Three of Its Victims" (1931) by B.C. Franklin

100% Complete

20 Total pages

14 Contributing members

"The Tulsa Race Riot and Three of Its Victims" (1931) by B.C. Franklin

Buck Colbert “B.C.” Franklin (1879–1960), the son of a formerly enslaved man, was one of the first Black attorneys in Oklahoma. In the aftermath of the 1921 Race Massacre, Franklin, whose home and office were destroyed, worked out of a tent representing clients and fighting against the city’s zoning laws designed to prevent Tulsa’s Black community from rebuilding their homes after they were destroyed. Franklin wrote this manuscript on August 22, 1931, ten years after the Tulsa Race Massacre. The unpublished manuscript recounts the events of the Massacre as witnessed by the author, including an account of Franklin witnessing three men being killed by the mob. CAUTION: This document contains graphic accounts of violence.

100% Complete

31 Total pages

51 Contributing members

Playbill for Ain’t Misbehavin’

One of the time-honored traditions of the theater is the playbill. From local community theaters to Broadway, playbills provide the audience with information about the story being told on stage and the artists who bring it to life. After the show, playbills often become cherished souvenirs. "Playbill," a monthly magazine distributed at major theaters in New York and nationwide, presents details about particular productions along with articles about current happenings in the theater world. The Museum's collection of playbills, which spans from the nineteenth century to the present, offers insight into the roles African Americans have played in the development of American theater as actors, playwrights, directors, producers, costume designers, choreographers, and more. Help us transcribe this Playbill from Ain’t Misbehavin’ to discover and share the history of African Americans taking the stage.

James Baldwin Archive, Series 6: Carrie Lee

100% Complete

2 Total pages

3 Contributing members

James Baldwin Archive, Series 6: Carrie Lee

James Baldwin (1924-1987) spent most of his life speaking out on the issues of race relations and racial discrimination in America. Through numerous bestselling novels, plays, and essays written during the 1950s through the 1970s, Baldwin addressed themes of racial and sexual oppression by connecting many of his personal experiences to national and international issues. Although Baldwin spent the bulk of his career living and working in Europe, mainly France and Turkey, he often returned to the United States to take part in events surrounding the American Civil Rights Movement. These materials are from the James Baldwin Collection Archive. The collection comes from Baldwin’s sister, Paula Baldwin Whaley, offering a wide range of material from Baldwin’s life including educational materials, personal letters, newspaper clippings, and an invitation from President John F. Kennedy to a luncheon at the White House. Included in the correspondence is a letter from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. praising Baldwin’s work. Help us transcribe this important archival collection that documents Baldwin’s life from childhood through his illustrious career.

Who Is Blocking Federal Aid To School Construction?

100% Complete

2 Total pages

9 Contributing members

Who Is Blocking Federal Aid To School Construction?

Program for an Evening with Martin Luther King, Jr. at Union Methodist Church

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3 Total pages

5 Contributing members

Program for an Evening with Martin Luther King, Jr. at Union Methodist Church

NAACP pamphlet highlighting the violence in Mississippi

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5 Total pages

9 Contributing members

NAACP pamphlet highlighting the violence in Mississippi

Flier announcing the NAACP National Youth Legislative Conference

100% Complete

2 Total pages

6 Contributing members

Flier announcing the NAACP National Youth Legislative Conference

Flier announcing an NAACP Memorial Meeting for Emmett Till

100% Complete

2 Total pages

6 Contributing members

Flier announcing an NAACP Memorial Meeting for Emmett Till

The 2023 Black History Month theme, Black Resistance, celebrates African Americans who work to survive and thrive in the face of racial oppression. Historically this has been done through activism, community building, organizing, and network building. This collection of documents from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People serves as an example of that rich history of this work for change. This flier, from a collection of documents related to the Boston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), provides insight into the Northern reaction to the violence against African Americans in the American South. On August 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally lynched in Drew, Mississippi. The murder and subsequent acquittal of the perpetrators were catalysts for a new determination among African Americans in the fight for civil rights. Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley said, "The murder of my son has shown me that what happens to any of us, anywhere in the world, had better be the business of us all!!!" In the same year, Lamar Smith, a farmer and World War I veteran, was shot and killed on the courthouse steps of Brookhaven, Mississippi, and George W. Lee, a grocery store owner and director of the local NAACP branch, was murdered in Belzoni, Mississippi, both in retaliation for encouraging Blacks to register to vote. The violence shocked the nation and inspired new action in the Civil Rights Movement across the country.

Resolution presented at the Greater Boston Civil Rights Rally

100% Complete

2 Total pages

4 Contributing members