Documenting the Black experience in the Americas and Caribbean
Leading up to Juneteenth 2023, the BDA hosted Connected Roots: Independent Black Communities in the Americas. The full symposium recording is available on YouTube and additional materials can be found in the symposium archive in Texas ScholarWorks.
Continue reading “Connected Roots: Independent Black Communities in the Americas Virtual Symposium”
The Black Diaspora Archive is proud to host one of the three installations of the exhibition, Black Classicists in Texas. This free, public exhibition tells the story of early educators of color in Central Texas who were passionate about studying antiquity. More information can be found on the exhibition website: https://bcatx.org.
Jeremy Thompson is a Diversity Resident Librarian at the University of Texas Libraries.
The John S. and Drucie R. Chase Building Archive is stewarded by the Black Diaspora Archive and can be accessed through a variety of avenues. The oral histories and photographs can be accessed online via the University of Texas Libraries Collections portal, here. The analog artifacts of the collection have been described in the collection’s TARO finding aid and can be requested in the Benson Latin American Collection’s rare books and manuscripts reading room. For more in-depth history about the Chase Building, visit CCE’s showcase on it and their series of videos centered around the building and its surrounding communities. Collections like the Chase Building Archive provide us the opportunity to learn how Black communities and spaces come about, and warn us about the diaspora that looms with their absence.
For more on the history of the John S. and Drucie R. Chase House and the archive, read Jeremy’s full article here.
A historical archive project that traces the routes of Texas’ domestic slave trade has received a grant of $119,326 over two years to expand its digital presence. The Texas Domestic Slave Trade (TXDST) project was founded by Daina Ramey Berry, Chair of UT Austin’s Department of History, and Rachel E. Winston, Black Diaspora Archivist at UT Libraries. The TXDST project manager is Sheena Moore, a senior administrative associate in the Department of History. The grant is funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), which is a collaboration between the Mellon Foundation and the National Archives that aims to expand cultural diversity in American history.
More information can be found in announcements by the College of Liberal Arts Public Affairs and the Department of History.
Oral history interviews from the Shankleville Community Oral History Collection are now available online!
Continue reading “Shankleville Community Oral History Interviews Now Online”
One of the most intriguing bits of history I’ve encountered during this project is the relationships between Black and white fraternities. The first Black Greek-letter organization on campus was none other than the Delta Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. On May 16, 1959, Delta Xi charter members Alnita F. Rettig, Jerry Ann Cannon, Barbara Caruthers, Evelyn Deason, Donna Licia Guess, Mamie Flora Hans, Miriam Jean Jones, Bettye Joanne McAdams, Carolyn Nan Mims, Doris Price, Mary Simpson, Walta Marie Smith, Janice Strickland, Gloria D. Truscott, and Mabel Joyce Wilson officially integrated Greek organizations at the University of Texas.
The impact of the signature projects created and facilitated by the Delta Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. reaches beyond the Forty Acres and into the lives of Austin mothers and their children. Working in East Austin, where, historically, the majority of African American Austinites have resided, since 1959 Delta Xi has held events to aid battered women, and to provide holiday parties, daycare, resources, encouragement, and toys for impoverished families. Continue reading “Curating an Oral History of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at The University of Texas || Part II”
The honorable Delta Xi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. was the first Black Greek-letter organization to be established at The University of Texas at Austin. Sworn in on May 16, 1959, at high noon in the Queen Anne Room, this particular group of women is dripping in legacy, poignant programs, community service, and rich history. As an archivist in training, with the unique opportunity to not only archive an oral history but curate it from scratch, I see it as my duty to extract the essence and diversity of these highly valuable experiences among the Delta Xi women. This blog series will contain three parts, one published each month during the summer of 2021. Continue reading “Curating an Oral History of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at The University of Texas || Part I”
Fall of 2019 was busy for the BDA! With the contributions of UT Libraries staff, the AKA Scholars Black Diaspora Archive Intern, and Archival Enterprise I students from the UT iSchool, three collections were processed:
That Which Surrounds Us: Selections from Brandywine Art Prints, 1982–2013, explores two elements central to the human experience—space and time. Sometimes indistinguishable, yet still distinct, factors of space and time shape our identity and inform how we view and operate in the world. Shown in two parts—Surrounded by Space and Surrounded by Time—this exhibition highlights personal expressions of these natural elements while showcasing the diverse array of fine art prints included in the Brandywine Art Prints collection. Continue reading “That Which Surrounds Us: Selections from the Brandywine Art Prints, 1982-2013”
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