First Encounters: Atlanta and the KKK

Southern Regional Council Collection
Auburn Avenue Research Library Archives Division

I don’t know much about the Ku Klux Klan.  Today at the Auburn Avenue Research Library, I saw a photograph from the 1940s of members of the Klan in buses.  They were on their way to perform initiation rites on Stone Mountain.  The buses were chartered from the city of Atlanta.  The Klansmen look normal in their suits and hats.  The buses are all lined up and waiting for their last passengers before leaving.  It seems eerie that this photo was taken right downtown in Atlanta.  The Klansmen surprise me that they were en masse in public and that their buses were assisted by policemen who cleared traffic.

From watching footage of Klansmen in documentaries and in movies, I’ve learned to be wary of them.  But looking at this photo, where they appear like regular people, I don’t fear them.  However, if I had been there on the day that this photo was taken, I would have been in awe of these men who chose to be part of the Klan.  I would hope that they wouldn’t attack me physically or with verbal insults.

As a former New Yorker, I can say that the majority of the people of New York have reservations about the South due to perceived racism, former slavery, and other things that divide the North and the South culturally.  Before moving to Georgia, I was worried about encountering bigotry and racism.  Georgia has its share of problems, but it is like anywhere with people who try live together in harmony.

I am blind to many bad things that happen.  I tend to concentrate on what is positive than on what is negative.  Bigotry and racism are still problems of the world, but the Ku Klux Klan seems to be less of a problem these days.

I don’t know how I would react if I suddenly encountered a Klan member today.  Would I even believe the person?  Does the Klan still act today or are they… dead as an organization?  I know it is better not to fear others, but having never witnessed Klan activity, I will only know my reaction if I encounter them.  I hope that I could counter them with peace, love, and justice.

Posted by Aaron Brown, San Jose State University/MLIS Graduate Student

AARL Intern

Greatest Hits

As 2011 ends, many lists of greatest hits and memorials to famous men and women circulate; Joe Frazier was and could deliver one of the greatest “hits” of all time. As a tribute to his passing in November, this post highlights the long legacy of African American achievement in the sport of boxing through two jewels in the holdings of the Auburn Avenue archives. The first African American world heavyweight champ, Jack Johnson became a lightning rod for the racial politics of the Jim Crow era and, as Mark Scott observes, also “contributed to the world of music by opening a nightclub, in Harlem, the Club Deluxe, that was later bought by gangsters and turned into the Cotton Club” (216). According to Scott, Mohammed Ali’s coaches would evoke Jack Johnson for ringside support: “Ghost in the house, the ghost of Jack Johnson is watching” (216). In a 1909 poster declaring Johnson the “Champion of the World” in the archival holdings, the newly-crowned heavyweight champion is portrayed in his fighting stance, flanked by two ovals, the one on the lower-left depicting his humble origins in Galveston, Texas and the other on the lower-right showing him in the driver's seat of the latest automobile. 

Brandt and Scheible Poster Commemorating Jack Johnson's World Heavyweight Title

As the writer Ralph Ellison would later note, Jack Johnson “was rejected by most whites and by many respectable Negroes, but he was nevertheless a hero among veterans of the Spanish-American War who rejoiced in the skill and élan with which Johnson set off the now-outrageous search for a ‘White Hope’” (215). While the 1909 Brandt and Scheible poster chronicles Johnson’s rise to power, a gorgeous oversized, collectible book from Taschen (made available to the public in 2004) documents the life of the “Greatest of All Time.” Of a limited edition run of nine thousand, the archives of AARL boast copy number 5,362 of this one-of-a-kind monograph, GOAT: A Tribute to Mohammed Ali. This heavyweight (literally) homage to the most famous heavyweight ever can only be described as an experience: a textual, photographic, and artistic montage of Ali’s life and times. A fitting testament to Ali’s larger-than-life status, this biography also collects his many quotable dictums, both comic and prophetic: “I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky—my name not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me” (588).

References

Ellison, Ralph. Going to the Territory. New York: Random House, 1986.

Scott, Mark. "Jack Johnson: World Heavyweight Champion." In The First Black Boxing Champions: Essays on Fighters of the 1800s to the 1920s, Colleen Aycock and Mark Scott, 200-217. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2010.

Posted by Joy Bracewell, AARL Intern

World AIDS Day 2011: Collection highlights LGBTQ advocate and activist Duncan Teague



A quick look at personal photos and ephemera from the Duncan Teague Collection, which is available for research.  photo courtesy Kesah Peace



Over twenty years ago, HIV/AIDS awareness got its first global platform via World AIDS Day. Celebrated every year on Dec. 1, the day of global unity was created in honor of those whose lives had been claimed by the pandemic and to spread awareness about the nearly 33 million people infected today.  In commitment to our mission, AARL has made efforts to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS by providing materials that highlight the unselfish work of activists like Duncan Teague.

In August 2009, AARL welcomed and celebrated the donation of the Duncan Teague Collection. Teague, a socio-political activist, writer, performance artist, minister, and advocate of the black gay and lesbian community, has been working in HIV/AIDS prevention for the last twenty years. A former two-time grand marshal of the Atlanta Gay Pride, Teague is deeply rooted in advocacy and the Atlanta community, having served in the African American Lesbian Gay Alliance, Georgia Equality, AID Atlanta, Georgia Equality, the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, and ARCA (AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta).

At almost 50 cubic feet, the collection contains Teague’s papers, those of artist/activist Tony Daniels, and the records of ADODI Muse: A Gay Negro Ensemble.

For more information on Teague and his legacy of fighting to combat HIV/AIDS in the Atlanta community, visit AARL to browse our African American Gay and Lesbian Print Collection.

Also, to learn more about World Aids Day go to: www.worldaidsday.org.


Yewande Addie, AARL Intern

Mrs. Dorothy Lee Bolden, Founder and President of The National Domestic Worker's of America, Inc.

The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements have brought to the forefront many social issues not prevalent in mainstream media. These movements garnered national and international support via social media. However, there have been strong voices that have been working and organizing on behalf of the underrepresented citizens for many years.

Dorothy Lee Bolden was the founder and president of the National Domestic Worker's Union of America. Mrs. Bolden started as a Domestic Worker at the tender age of nine and continued working in the trade for forty-one years. She was involved in the civil rights movement with her then neighbor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He encouraged her in community organizing against the Atlanta School Board decision to condemn a neighborhood school. She used the experience as a catalyst to organize her colleagues. Mrs. Bolden became a sounding board for many women and their experiences working for families residing in the exclusive areas of Atlanta. Domestic workers endured 13-hour days with low pay from $ 3.50 to $5.00 in 1960. In 1968 Dorothy Bolden started discussions with other unions about a national union for maids.

Organization and education were critical for community organizing. Maids were negotiating with private families and not corporations. With the assistance of the Urban League, Atlanta radio station WAOK and wider community support, these women were able to improve their working conditions. Dorothy Bolden exclaimed, “We aren’t Aunt Jemima women, and I am sure to God don’t want people to think we are. We are politically strong and independent.” Her organizing efforts gained the attention of the Nixon Administration and she was later appointed to an advisory committee on social services and welfare. Mrs. Bolden spent her time advocating for training and education for domestic workers, while tirelessly supporting community efforts for affordable city services and housing.

Dorothy Lee Bolden eventually organized 10 cities and had 13,000 women benefiting from job referrals and organizing. An Atlanta icon, Mrs. Bolden stated “These women are still struggling. These women have built this country with the sweat of their brow. Their parents worked in the fields. You look over your shoulder and wonder if the field is still there.” Dorothy Lee Bolden started a grassroots movement in the South that went national. Her story might offer some insight for social and political movements on the fine skills of organizing and negotiation.

AARL houses and makes available the Dorothy Lee Bolden Papers http://tinyurl.com/6wy8hgg
Posted by Ayannah Zafir, Archives Library Associate

Forthcoming children's book collection to pave new path toward discovery

Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan once said:

 “There are so many ways in which we learn about life and self. Each day opens paths to this exploration. For many of us, books play a major role in that adventure.”

Blazing the trail of self-exploration for children, Bryan has published and illustrated a number of children’s books through the years. With generous donations of some of Bryan’s original artwork, the Auburn Avenue Research Library (AARL) established the Ashley Bryan Children’s Picture Book Art collection. This collection contains sensitive images of children of African descent by national and international children’s picture book illustrators.

Illustration from Ashley Bryan's Walk Together Children, March 1981

In recent years, the AARL Ashley Bryan Literary Festival partnered with the National Black Arts Festival. During this three-day festival organizers engage children, parents, and educators in the Africana experience, in addition to honoring the work of other children’s book illustrators with the same mission. Previous recipients of the Ashley Bryan Children’s Picture Book Award are Bryan Collier and Colin Bootman. Their work has also been included in the children’s picture book art collection. Among Bootman, Bryan, and Collier, Jonathan Green, an illustrator and advocate of artistic literacy, is also featured.

The Ashley Bryan Children’s Picture Book Art collection highlights nearly 60 illustrations from about 20 different works and not only includes autographed published versions, but also drafts and sketches that document a good portion of the artistic process. Artist Bryan Collier has lively illustrations detailing the boxing career and Islamic journey of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Whether in the ring or prayer position, Ali comes to life and pops off the pages of Collier’s work. “Walk Together Children,” is a fascinating Ashley Bryan piece that features illustrated scores and lyrics of black spirituals. It is a wonderful way to expose children to the historical significance of how black slaves in America gained strength and interpreted coded messages from these songs.

Is there anybody here? by Ashley Bryan

In the spirit of staying true to Bryan’s quote and the AARL mission of being a resource for educators and the community at large, we hope the collection inspires and influences educators to build picture book art collections within their own organizations/schools and serve as a guide in detailing how artists address Africana-related issues through images. This collection could also be used in research to gauge the impact and effectiveness of communicating ideas to children through reflective illustration.

The Ashley Bryan Children’s Picture Book Art collection is currently being processed and will be accessible via online descriptive inventory.  Also the AARL’s joint Children’s Literature Conference with the University of Georgia will be a great way to experience an extension of the illustrative work in the picture book collection. It can also be an insightful prelude to the annual Ashley Bryan Literary Festival.

 Posted by Yewande Addie, AARL Intern

Women Writing History and Biography: Looking Back and Thinking Forward

Two pamphlets published within five years of each other on the cusp of the Harlem Renaissance display very different perspectives towards the nation’s past, implicitly imagining divergent paths for the country’s future.  The women who penned these records chose subject matter in accordance with their stances on what was valuable in American history. Listing herself as editor and publisher, Mildred Lewis Rutherford wrote several volumes of a pamphlet-like monthly periodical (1923-1926), entitled, Miss Rutherford’s Scrap Book: Valuable Information about the South, which was printed in her hometown of Athens, Georgia, while Laura E. Wilkes, described as a “teacher in the primary schools, Washington, D. C.” by the title page of her first publication, produced two histories, the title of the second acknowledging the gap in history that she was seeking to fill: Missing Pages in American History, Revealing the Services of Negroes in the Early Wars of America.

Rutherford’s views on the Civil War are immediately hinted by her designation for it in the first volume of her “scrapbook”: The Causes That Led to the War Between the States (1923), one of the holdings of the AARL archival collections. Covering topics that highlight the contentious events splitting the northern and southern states leading up to the bloody conflict, Rutherford recasts history in the light of an explanation that espouses the “Lost Cause," a term that describes a set of beliefs conflating religion with ideology. Proponents of the Lost Cause espoused a heroic interpretation of the South’s involvement in the Civil War. For instance, under her heading about “The Cotton Gin,” Rutherford notes that its “invention undoubtedly led to jealousy,” implying that the warmer climate of the South and its dependence on “free labor” (her euphemism for the work extracted from enslaved peoples) led to more political power for the South (6-7). In her pamphlet, Rutherford not only focuses on her version of the political and economic events leading up to “War Between the States,” but also spars with the ghosts of literary and social history, questioning the accuracy of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s depiction of slavery, while not denying the book's efficacy in garnering support for the abolitionist cause: “In 1852 ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ appeared. This was such a misrepresentation of the institution of slavery in the South that it brought just indignation to Southern people” (9). 

On the other hand, historian Pero Gaglo Dagbovie (2004) situates Laura Eliza Wilkes within “the ranks of early black women ‘historians without portfolio,’” a term used by Earl E. Thorpe to describe a “group of nonprofessional persons […] who have a fondness for the discipline of history, feeling that their life experiences peculiarly fit them for chronicling some historical events” (243). In his article, “Black Women Historians from the Late 19^th Century to the Dawning of the Civil Rights Movement,” Dagbovie shows that Wilkes sought to highlight the sacrifices of African American soldiers in fighting for the United States in World War I and prior wars, thereby demonstrating “to white Americans that the denial of fundamental citizenship rights to African Americans was unjust” (249). Along with three early editions of each of Frederick Douglass’s biographies, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), and Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1882), the AARL Archives division also owns the first of Wilkes’s pamphlets, The Story of Frederick Douglass: With Quotations and Extracts (1918), initially copyrighted and published by Howard University in 1899 (Dagbovie 2004, 248). In the Preface, Wilkes outlines her audience as “the young folks of the race, because I believe the life of Frederick Douglass will serve as an inspiration to every schoolboy and girl.” In this condensed version of Douglass’s story, Wilkes emphasizes his attempts to further his own education as a boy and young man (9, 11). She ends her sketch of his life with a written portrait, a fitting tribute to Douglass’s attempts at both visual and verbal self-fashioning in his autobiographies, which also foreshadows the beautiful woodcut illustrations of Michael McCurdy’s later version of Douglass’s life as juvenile literature: “Personally he had a magnetic force which drew all to him—of noble bearing, a physique of handsome proportions, crowned by a glorious head of silvery-white hair” (14).   

Rutherford and Wilkes’s projects were strikingly different, one retrogressive and backward-looking, the other progressive and forward-thinking. While Rutherford was an outspoken “anti," Wilkes championed Douglass for his support of woman’s suffrage. In supporting the “Rightful Place” of the South in history (words used in the title of one of her books), Rutherford emphasized the divisions between the states according to their placement relative to the Mason Dixon line, whereas Wilkes, writing in the nation’s capital, presented a wider scope of place and time, following the international movements of Douglass’s life. Wilkes’s work was recommended in the Crisis, the journal of the NAACP edited by W. E. B. Du Bois, while Rutherford compiled her own list of “Books for Southern Libraries,” including Thomas Nelson Page’s Two Little Confederates (20-21). Thus, Robert S. Levine’s description of identity as unstable within autobiography in his discussion of Frederick Douglass’s work could also apply to the re-writing of history: “it is tied to the contingencies of the historical moment and to the problematics (and challenges) of the autobiographer’s art” (31).

References

Dagbovie, Pero Gaglo. "Black Women Historians from the Late 19^th Century to the Dawning of the Civil Rights Movement." Journal of African American History 89, no. 1 (2004): 241-261. 

Levine, Robert S. "Identity in the Autobiographies." In Cambridge Companion to Frederick Douglass, Maurice Lee, 31-45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

"The Looking Glass." Crisis 16, no. 6 (1918): 276-279.

 Marshall, Anne E. "Mildred Lewis Rutherford." New Georgia Encyclopedia. Accessed October 29, 2011. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3178.

McCurdy, Michael, ed. Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words. New York: Knopf, 1994.

Williams, David S. "Lost Cause Religion." New Georgia Encyclopedia. Accessed October 29, 2011. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2723.

Posted by Joy Bracewell, AARL Intern

AARL Salutes Civil Rights Veteran



Joseph Lowery poses in front of the Motor Voter Bus. Since integration, Lowery has continued his civil rights work in such areas as black voter registration, affirmative action, and AIDS education.



Ninety years ago today, Civil Rights activist Joseph Echols Lowery was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Lowery is a founding member and former president of the civil rights organization SCLC, or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A graduate of Paine College and Paine’s Theological Seminary in Augusta, Ga., Lowery also received his doctorate in divinity at the Chicago Ecumenical Institute. Though he has pastored churches in both Alabama and Georgia, Rev. Lowery is well- known for his role in leading the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and the March on Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For over 40 years Lowery has dedicated his life to preaching and advocating for those in need.

Joseph Lowery stands before the SCLC headquarters in Atlanta. In 1977 Lowery succeeded Ralph Abernathy as president of the SCLC, which has been based in Atlanta since its inception in 1957.

 An undying supporter of nonviolent resistance, Lowery used this peaceful method to combat segregation, and encourage the improvement of black voting rights, labor rights, affirmative action, and education. A seasoned expert in mobilizing, Lowery forged ahead into the 21^st century, remaining just as relevant in challenging contemporary ails of the day, including police brutality and other global pertinent issues.

He was even instrumental in fighting against the unjust system of apartheid that put former South African president Nelson Mandela in jail. One of his more recent accomplishments took place in 2009, when Lowery performed the benediction for President Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremony. In celebration of the resilient mover and shaker he is, the Auburn Avenue Research Library would like to wish Rev. Lowery a happy 90th birthday.

Though Lowery is still hanging on to his personal papers and memoirs, many of his countless honors and work in the community has been documented within AARL’s collections. More specifically in our collections on Andrew Young and Hosea Williams. Come thumb through our archives division to see some of our exclusive materials. 

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery will be celebrating his birthday Sunday evening, in a star-studded soiree at the Atlanta Symphony Hall. For information on tickets, visit www.loweryinstitute.org.

References:

Kirkland, W M. "Joseph Lowery." The New Georgia Encyclopedia.

The HistoryMakers. "Rev. Joseph Lowery Biography ."

Posted by Yewande Addie, AARL Intern