amistad research center

Amistad has acquired the records of Atlanta-based Alternate ROOTS, a regional arts service organization of artists who work for social justice. The acquisition documents 41 of the regional group’s 43 years, 1976 to 2017. Alternate ROOTS was founded in 1976 by a group of Southern-based artists and organizers “working to dismantle all forms of oppression – everywhere.” Its name, “Alternate,” means an alternative. “ROOTS” was originally an acronym for Regional Organization of Th

The history of the Original Illinois Club is making its debut at Amistad Research Center. A ledger book dating from 1930 to 1949 is the oldest account of the social and pleasure club in the new collection, which was coordinated by President Tracey L. Thibodaux. The ledger contains detailed lists of officers, committees, members, and debutantes. Membership dues, a hand-script copy of the club’s charter and articles of incorporation are also included. Most of the records date f

The Thomas-Jones Family Papers document four successive generations of an African-American family with ties to New Orleans, North Carolina, and New York City. The collection is comprised of correspondence; legal records, such as marriage, death, and birth records; real estate records; membership certificates; insurance and funeral records; school records; photographs; news clippings; collected ephemera; and art work. The earliest family members documented are William W. and E

Senga Nengudi (1943 -) is an African American visual artist known for her abstract sculptures that combine found objects with choreographed performance. Born as Sue Irons in Chicago, Nengudi grew up in California. She studied art and dance at California State University in Los Angeles, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1967. She studied for a year afterward in Tokyo, Japan at Waseda University and returned to California State University for graduate study receiving her Ma

Masani Alexis De Veaux (1948- ) is an American writer and illustrator, and former chair of the Department of Women’s Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Born on September 24, 1948, in Harlem, De Veaux received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York Empire State College. She continued her education in creative writing at the University of Buffalo, where she attained a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. A voice for blac

The fragile nature of the lives of formerly-enslaved and manumitted individuals is dramatically illustrated in a recently donated memoir now housed at the Amistad Research Center. George Howe was studying medicine in New Orleans in April 1859 when he was invited to serve as ship’s physician on board the Rebecca, a ship that was commissioned to return the last group of individuals freed from slavery by the estate of merchant John McDonogh in Louisiana and transported to Liberi