Collective History as African Americans:  

A Three-Part Class with Paula Royster this February @ Main

Collective Memory is a term used to describe memories shared among members of a cultural group. 

Commemorative events, anniversaries, holidays, and memorial services are ways in which people gather to maintain collective memory.  This month at Richmond Public Library's Main Branch, Paula Royster will be leading a three-part exploration of our Collective Memory as African Americans.

Paula Royster is a renowned genealogist, cultural anthropologist, and academic lecturer.  She will lead a discussion of collective memories in the African American consciousness, a session on tracing the slave trade, and an interactive discussion of our Collective History culminating in the creation of a time capsule.  Participants are encouraged to share their memories of Richmond.

Here is a more detailed look at each of the sessions:

February 8, 3-5pm: Collective Memory
What is collective memory, and how do we remember events that shape our collective memory?  How does collective memory manifest in our political structure and government, in memorial sites such as the African Burial Ground National Monument in new york, in our memorializing of Civil Rights leaders, and in our experience of events affecting the African American culture during our lifetimes, such as the Trayvon Martin case?

February 15, 3-5pm:  Tracing the Slave Trade
Ms. Royster will discuss the Slave Trade from a cultural, historical and genealogical standpoint.   This discussion will include the oft-forgotten, oldest known slave trade: the Arab-Oriental Trade, which spanned 14 centuries and operated across the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas into Europe.  The class will examine the ethnic identities of various peoples from across the globe.

 February 22, 3-5 pm:  Collective History 
This class will cover events of historical significance to the African American culture, including the civil war, Juneteenth, and Sesquicentennial, as well as historical figures such as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey.  Join us to create a time capsule that captures the essence of our community, reflects the social, economic and political aspects of our time, and preserves how we want to be remembered. 

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Paula Royster is the founder, President and CEO of the Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc/ (CAAGRI).  Ms. Royster is a guest lecturer at VCU, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Mary Washington, and a Fulbright Specialist.

Ms. Royster specializes in genealogy, Cultural Anthropology and the African Diaspora.  She chairs the Rappahannock Regional Juneteenth Committee and serves as an advisor to non-profit organizations related to her field. As a veteran genealogist, she has conducted seminars and workshops locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The Remembering Project Presented by Dr. Michael Blakey, Anthropologist

As part of the African American Community Lecture Series at the Main Library, Dr. Michael Blakely is going to discuss the digital mapping project "The Remembering Project" on September 19 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. 

The Remembering Project 

The Remembering Slavery, Resistance and Freedom Project (the Remembering Project) was established to engage the community of  African descendants throughout Virginia to develop memorial events, exhibits and/or programs for the Sesquicentennial that honors the rich and complex lives, histories, contributions, innovations, and sacrifices of enslaved Africans and African Americans. 

One way the Project intends to memorialize the contributions of individuals of African descendants in Virginia, is by identifying the cemeteries of the people who were enslaved.  As the group approach the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, they recognized the deep significance of burials in remembering the contributions Africans and African Americans to Virginia and the nation as a whole.

The Remembering Project is developing a database of known cemetery sites.  Please join us at the Main Library to learn more about this exciting project and help disseminate information about this project.  Be sure that your family cemeteries are included in this database.

Dr. Michael Blakey

Dr. Michael Blakey is the Director of the Institute for Historical Biology at the College of William and Mary. He is a physical anthropologist known for analysis and interpretation of the important evidence uncovered at the 1991 African Burial Ground in Manhattan. Dr. Blakey, set the precedence and is world renowned for his scholarly work on this project. In 2012, he was recognized and celebrated for his contributions as one of the Library of Virginia African American Trailblazers. 


Click here for more information about the The Remembering Project.

Call 646-7223 for more details about the program.

Negro Leagues Baseball Players Coming To RPL

                                                 
 Next Friday, August 10th at 4:30 p.m., former baseball players from the Negro Leagues will be at the Main Library to talk about their experience in the league and Civil Rights struggle in the 1950s and 1960s. Surviving members who will participate in an interview questionnaire are Henry Mason, Joe Durham, Mamie Johnson-Goodman, and Pedro Sierra. This program is “FREE” and is open to the public.

About The Negro Leagues

Negro League Baseball was established February 13, 1920 at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri. The person who was a key figure in getting the league established was Andre "Rube" Foster and he served as the president. There was close to 3,000 men and three women who played baseball for a Negro League team and fewer than 175 Negro Leagues members are still alive today.

 About the visiting players 

Born in Marshall, MO, in 1931, Henry “Pistol” Mason was offered a position on the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team at 19 years old. On opening day in 1952, Mason pitched sixteen innings to defeat the Philadelphia Stars. In 1955, Mason broke barriers by becoming the first African American to play for the Schenectady Blue Jays, a Philadelphia Phillies farm team. After two seasons, with records of 12-4 (1955) and 14-7 (1956), leading the league with seven shutouts and placing second in the league with 176 strikeouts, Mason joined the Phillies in 1958 and played until 1962. After retiring from baseball, Mason became a pastor in Kansas City. He moved to Richmond, VA, in 2001.

Joe “Pop” Durham, a native of Newport News, VA, began his professional baseball career as an outfielder in 1952 with the Chicago American Giants. The St. Louis Browns signed him in 1953. The following season, Durham reached the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles, the second African American to play for that franchise. On September 12, 1954, he became the first African American to record a home run for the Orioles. In his major league career, Durham spent time with the St. Louis Cardinals, served as a scout for amateur free agents, and as the Orioles Community Coordinator. He became coach of an Orioles minor league team in 1990 and retired from coaching in 1996. He currently lives in Maryland and serves as an Orioles Baseball Club representative.

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson was born in 1935 in Ridgeway, SC. At 18 years old, she was recruited as a pitcher for the Indianapolis Clowns and reported to training camp in Portsmouth, VA. Johnson played professional baseball from 1953 to 1955 winning 33 games, losing eight, and having a batting average from .262 to .284. Johnson was one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues. After her baseball career, Johnson worked as a nurse for thirty years. Prior to the 2008 MLB First Year Draft, Johnson and other living players from the Negro League were drafted by Major League franchises. Johnson was selected by the Washington Nationals, the team closest to her current residence of DC.

Born in Cuba in 1938, Pedro Sierra’s baseball career began in 1954 when, at 16 years old, he went to pitch for the Indianapolis Clowns. He played for the Clowns from 1954 to 1955, and then for the Detroit Stars from 1956 to 1958. After two-and-a-half-years in the U.S. Army, Sierra played with the Minnesota Twins (1962-1966). While in the Canadian Provincial League (1967-69), Sierra led that league in wins and shutouts and was named team MVP. In 1970 he played for Washington Senators farm teams and from 1971 to 1975 Sierra joined Mexican teams. After a distinguished 22-year baseball career, in 1976 Sierra began working for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Recreation, a job he held for 25 years. Sierra currently resides in Maryland.

We also have a wonderful display of books based on African American baseball players during that era. Come by the Main Library and check out some of these titles.

This program is presented by The Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc. and the Urban League of Greater Richmond.

Information about the players is provided by The Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc.

African American Studies Community Course

We are so excited to host a six-week course on African-American studies that will be totally free and open to the public. Explore the history, culture, politics, and contemporary life of persons of African descent through lectures, films and discussions. These classes will be presented by Dr. Shawn Utsey, VCU Department of African American Studies and Afrikana Student Union, VCU. 

The first class starts this week on Wednesday, November 2nd at 6:30 PM. The topic for tomorrow's lecture is the American Voodoo Construct. Students will explore the Voodoo concept in American popular culture. Special guest, Dr. Iyelle Ichile, will help discuss the Voodoo Construct as a collection of images and rhetoric concerning African spirituality.

"This topic emerged as a result of several contemporary incidents of harsh material and social consequences meted out to followers of these faiths in place like Louisiana, Haiti, and even Ghana. 'Voodoo' is more a part of Euro-American folklore than any black religious tradition. As such, 'Voodoo' reflects both the racial ideologies and racialized nationalist anxieties of white America."   - Dr. Shawn Utsey

Classes will be held on Wednesdays from November 2nd through December 14 (except the Wednesday before Thanksgiving), from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Main Library. This is such a special opportunity for the Richmond community, and we hope to see many people in attendance. Please call Dr. Utsey at (804) 828-1384 with any questions.