The HistoryMakers held its WomanMakers Relaunch Luncheon and Convening at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice on Wednesday, September 7, 2022. |
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WOMANMAKERS RELAUNCH
FEATURED SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENTS
AND FORD FOUNDATION GIFT.
Nikki Giovanni, Ursula Burns, Kitt Shapiro, and Darren Walker show support for The HistoryMakers new Digitization Initiative.
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On Wednesday, September 7, 2022, The HistoryMakers relaunched its WomanMakers Initiative at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice. The program began with a welcome from The HistoryMakers Board Chair Toni Cook Bush followed by a keynote address from The HistoryMakers Founder & President Julieanna Richardson; special remarks from renowned poet Nikki Giovanni that engaged and entertained the attentive audience (The HistoryMakers honored her in 2005 in An Evening With Nikki Giovanni); and surprise announcements from retired Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and Kitt Shapiro, daughter of legendary actress and singer Eartha Kitt (1927-2008). The crowd learned for the first time that The HistoryMakers will now serve as the permanent digital repository for both Ursula Burns’ and Eartha Kitt’s personal collections of photographs, letters, memorabilia, and other historical items. Ford Foundation President Darren Walker also committed $1 million in support of The HistoryMakers Digitization Initiative and its focus on rescuing and making widely and digitally accessible the historical records of its HistoryMakers.
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Ursula Burns began her career at Xerox as a young engineer and intern and rose through the corporate ranks to become the nation’s first African American female CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Known as an effective corporate leader, The HistoryMakers honored Ursula Burns in 2013 in An Evening With Ursula Burns. In 2020, Burns gifted The HistoryMakers $1 million in honor of her late husband, retired scientist, and inventor Lloyd F. Bean, to increase the representation of African American women within The HistoryMakers’ archives, which currently has 800 fewer women than men in its unprecedented collection. Burns stated, “I was a regular person before I became 'Ursula Burns' and I didn’t save much. But Julieanna’s been speaking to me for years about my “papers” and so I have become more intentional about saving what I can.”
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Eartha Kitt was one of the nation’s most iconic entertainers and performers. She spent her decades long career distinguishing herself in film, theatre, cabaret, music, and television. Not only did she sing in ten different languages, but she performed in over 100 countries and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nominated for a primetime Emmy Award for her role in the television series I SPY , she made an indelible mark on pop culture as the infamous Catwoman in the television series, Batman.
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The HistoryMakers relationship with Eartha Kitt and her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, dates back to 2008 when The HistoryMakers honored Eartha Kitt’s legendary life and career in the PBS-TV program An Evening With Eartha Kitt which is the last recorded performance and interview of Eartha Kitt. . Shapiro, stated: “My mother collected everything – from journals to photos, notes from her biggest fans and letters from her worst enemies. Now, it seems only fitting that we give these items to The HistoryMakers, ensuring that future generations can study them and gain a better understanding of Eartha Kitt.” |
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These surprise announcements came as The HistoryMakers sought to reenergize efforts around its WomanMakers Initiative which had been stalled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stated Julieanna Richardson:. “The HistoryMakers seeks to become the digital repository of the Black Experience. But it is only possible with supporters like Nikki, Ursula, Kitt, and Darren.”
The luncheon and convening included distinguished African American female leaders from a variety of disciplines-the arts, business, education, civics, law, science, medicine, the military, entertainment, sports, music, the media, politics religion and fashion and beauty including nonagenarians Dr. June Jackson Christmas, a 98-year old psychiatrist, and Mildred Bond Roxborough, who at 96 is the longest serving member of the NAACP; former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cheryl Boone Isaacs; former New York First Lady Chirlane McCray Chair of the New York Stock Exchange Sharon Y. Bowen; brand developer Marvet Britto; publisher Marie Brown; journalists A’Lelia Bundles and Michelle Miller; ABC News President Kimberly Godwin; Google executive Bonita Stewart; co-founder of investment firm Fairview Capital JoAnn Price; Sweet Honey In the Rock singers Carol Maillard and Louise Robinson; among others.
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The HistoryMakers WomanMakers Relaunch Luncheon and Convening Attendees |
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THE HISTORYMAKERS ON MARTHA'S VINEYARD.
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In August, The HistoryMakers returned to Martha's Vineyard after a two-year hiatus and were well received. In addition to interviewing 26 people over a 13-day period while on the Vineyard, The HistoryMakers hosted two programs: a screening and panel discussion for BusinessMakers, a program that will air on PBS this fall, and its annual Archives and Dinner discussion.
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BusinessMakers PBS-TV Screening & Panel Discussion
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Both the PBS program and August 16, 2022 panel discussion were hosted by MSNBC and PBS NewsHour’s Jonathan Capehart. Featured in BusinessMakers are former Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier; former TIAA CEO Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.; Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson; former MetricStream CEO Shellye Archambeau; Cerevel CEO and Chair Dr. Tony Coles; former Young & Rubicam CEO and Chair Ann Fudge; Urban One Founder & Chair Cathy Hughes; Baldwin Richardson Foods CEO Eric G. Johnson; Apollo Global Management, Inc. Senior Partner William M. Lewis, Jr.; Citigroup former Vice Chairman Raymond J. McGuire; Fairview Capital Co-founder and Managing Partner Laurence C. Morse; Smith Graham Co-Founder, Chairman, and Gerald B. Smith; former Darden Restaurants CEO and Chair Clarence Otis, Jr.; and former Gilead Sciences, Inc. Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Robin L. Washington. Panelists included Shellye Archambeau, Dr. Tony Coles, Eric G. Johnson, Laurence C. Morse, and Clarence Otis, Jr.
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DISAPPEARING ACTS… A MORAL & CULTURAL IMPERATIVE |
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On August 23, 2022 The HistoryMakers resumed its archives and dinner discussion on the Vineyard. In addition to a keynote from its Founder & President Julieanna Richardson, the program featured announcements from Morehouse School of Medicine Founding President and Dean Dr. Louis W. Sullivan and culinary historian Jessica B. Harris, both of whom have found repositories for their personal collections.
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HistoryMakers in Attendance at the Disappearing Acts: A Moral and Cultural Imperative Archives and Dinner reception on Martha's Vineyard. |
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RESCUE. PRESERVE. EDUCATE. |
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The HistoryMakers is the single largest collection of African American first person video oral history testimony in the world. Over nearly two decades, The HistoryMakers has assembled a collection of over 3,000 and growing interviews (11,000 hours of first person testimony), to educate the world about African American life, history, and culture. The HistoryMakers is a vitally important treasure trove of insights, career paths, role models, and perspectives. |
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