Amistad is committed to collecting, preserving and providing open access to original materials that reference the social and cultural importance of America's ethnic and racial history, the African Diaspora, human relations and civil rights.
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Special Fundraising Campaign for GiveNOLA Day!
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Recent news stories about the discovery of two paintings by renowned African American painter Jacob Lawrence have become a national phenomenon. The Amistad Research Center has a unique connection to these stories.
In 1938 Jacob Lawrence, a 21-year-old Harlem resident, was influenced by the New York neighborhood's ethos. During his lifetime, Lawrence created ten historical narrative series. All of his works were informed by his first, The Toussaint L'Ouverture Series, comprised of 41 tempera paintings. This series is preserved in the permanent fine art collection of The Amistad Research Center.
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Jacob Lawrence. Toussaint L’Ouverture Series, No. 16. Toussaint captured Dondon…, 1938
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You have the opportunity to support this national treasure! Join us as we raise funds to preserve Lawrence's Toussaint series. Each donation to Amistad on GiveNOLA Day will be highlighted in our archive. You will also be a part of our inaugural Amistad Arts Guild, dedicated to the legacies of African and African-American art.
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Donations Provide Differing Views into African American History
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Recent donations of archival materials reflect two very different stories of Louisiana migration. One is the story of shared heritage; the other is a story of cruelty and segregationist hatred. Both donations complement Amistad’s rich resources while expanding on these important histories.
The Amistad Research Center would like to thank Elaine Gutierrez, Mary-Elizabeth Brague and Gabrielle Emanuel for their generosity and assistance in helping us to preserve these important collections. Both collections are now available for research and are slated for full organization in the future. Inquiries about the collections can be sent to our Research Services staff by calling 504-862-3222 or sending an email to reference@amistadresearchcenter.org.
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Amistad’s Collections Depend on Your Support
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Amistad’s mission to collect, preserve and provide access to historical documents is made possible by generous donations from individuals, families and organizations.
Do you have materials to donate? Please visit our collection development policy available here to learn more about how you may donate, or contact us at 504.862.3222 or info@amistadresearchcenter.org.
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A New Way to Search Amistad’s Collections
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The Amistad Research Center is pleased to announce the launch of our new finding aid database application, ArchivesSpace, which is an open source collection management tool providing web-based access and navigation to information found throughout ARC’s archives and manuscripts collections. ArchivesSpace offers versatility in searching throughout ARC’s finding aids either via subjects, collections or the names of individuals.
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Last Chance to view Senga Nengudi: Topologies in Philadelphia
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The personal papers of contemporary artist Senga Nengudi are housed at the Amistad Research Center and portions are still traveling the world as part of the Senga Nengudi: Topologies exhibition. Having visited Munich, São Paulo, and Denver, the exhibition opens May 1 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as the last stop on its international tour. Amistad is pleased to see this exhibition continue to garner interest in one of the “most influential living African American artists” according to artsy.net.
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Senga Nengudi with Nuki Nuki – Across 18th Street, 1981
Learn more about the exhibition here…
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Amistad Loans Works for William H. Johnson Exhibition
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Four works from Amistad’s fine art collection are currently on loan to the Florence County Museum in Florence, South Carolina, as part of an exhibition on the life and work of African American artist William H. Johnson. Kindred Spirit: The Personal Worlds of William H. Johnson will be on display through March 17, 2024. Amistad’s contributions will be exhibited through March 2022 and include two woodcuts, an oil painting, and a silkscreen produced by Johnson between 1939 and 1944.
Learn more about the exhibition here…
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William J. Johnson. Jitterbugs II, 1942
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Conversations in Color: Black Women and Polyamory
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For those of you who missed our latest Conversations in Color, the recording for “Black Women and Polyamory in Ma Belle, My Beauty” is now on Amistad’s Vimeo page. Please revisit the wonderful conversation between artist and facilitator Sage Crump and actress Idella Johnson as they explore love, relationships, and the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award-winning film Ma Belle, My Beauty.
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Conversations in Color is sponsored by
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A Continued Look at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives
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Thanks in part to support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Amistad’s staff continues to organize the records of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC) and highlight aspects of FSC’s long history of advocating for southern Black farmers and landowners. Our blog series on this project and FSC continues with looks at the continued decline of Black land ownership and how FSC utilized and collected films as a means of advocating for their constituents.
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Federation of Southern Cooperatives Rural Training and Research Center staff.
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In the Spirit of Local Activism and Getting Involved
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The staff at the Amistad Research Center continues the project of arranging and describing the papers of sixteen African American women and highlighting their contributions and influences throughout their communities, and nationally and internationally. Previously, we focused on Sybil Morial and the formation of the Louisiana League of Good Government in response to Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation, and the Louisiana League of Women Voters as a form of local activism to help people register to vote and become civically engaged. We now turn similar focus on areas of local activism and other ways of helping, particularly in the area of elevating African Americans and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
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Portrait of Mary Morehead Richardson
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Authentic Connections in the Clarie Collins Harvey papers
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The owner of the Collins Funeral Home in Jackson, Mississippi, was an activist in the civil rights movement, the women’s movement and the international peace movement during the 1960s and 1970s. When Freedom Riders arrived in Jackson to challenge segregated interstate bus transportation, Clarie Collins Harvey co-founded Womanpower Unlimited to provide the civil rights activists with food, shelter and money. Harvey networked with other organizations—local, national and international—to achieve those goals. You can read more about her life in Tiyi M. Morris’ book, Womanpower Unlimited and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi (University of Georgia Press, 2015).
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Brenda Flora, Curator of Moving Images and Recorded Sound, served on the review panel for Cycle 8 of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)'s Recordings at Risk grant program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. In April, she attended the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)'s first Spring Conference where she had the opportunity to screen an excerpt from the 1956 "Bon Temps Carnival Balls" film from the Robert S. and Lillie Mae Green collection (the film streams in its entirety here.) She also co-presented the session "Advancing the Profession: Findings from the AMIA Salary and Demographics Surveys."
Amanda Lima has joined Amistad’s staff as a full-time Communications Specialist and Archives Assistant. Prior to working at the Amistad, Amanda’s experience included working at the New Orleans Public Library as a library associate and community outreach programmer; teaching Louisiana history as a middle school teacher in New Orleans; and serving as a research assistant at the W.E.B. Du Bois archive at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Amanda is also currently attending graduate school at Louisiana State University for librarianship and archival studies.
Jennifer Long has joined Amistad’s staff as Digital Archivist. Jennifer is passionate about the digital preservation of archival collections and making them accessible for the general public to see and interpret. Jennifer holds a degree in fine art from the University of Kansas, a BA in art history from Portland State University and studied museum studies at the University of Bologna, Italy. She has worked as an Archival Assistant at the Bartlesville Area History Museum in Oklahoma, which primarily focuses on local and Indigenous history. She then served as Digital Assets Manager for the Louisiana State Museum’s Colonial Document Project and at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
Andrea Mumford has joined Amistad as Executive Assistant. She is assisting the Center’s administrative staff in daily operations and outreach efforts.
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