Stars of Black History Shine at 85th annual ASALH Luncheon

Black historians and black history lovers converged in Washington, DC on Saturday, February 26th for the 85th annual Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the organization founded by Carter G. Woodson–the father of black history–in 1915.

Lonnie Bunch, A'LeliaBundles, Tuliza Fleming and John Fleming at the ASALH luncheon in DC (2-26-2011)

  The luncheon always brings out the stars of black history!

We saw Lonnie Bunch (founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture), Tuliza Fleming (NMAAHC curator Apollo exhibit) , John Fleming (former ASALH president/executive producer America I AM), (more…)

“Heritage of Resistance” Panel Features Descendants of Walker, Du Bois, Wells and Drew

Arthur McFarlane, Charlene Drew Jarvis, Zada Johnson, A'Lelia Bundles and Michelle Duster at the DuSable Museum in Chicago

I’m still feeling the glow of a great weekend in Chicago with old friends and new. The “Heritage of Resistance” symposium at the DuSable Museum where Michelle Duster, Charlene Drew Jarvis, Arthur McFarlane and I talked about our ancestors (Ida B. Wells, Dr. Charles Drew, W.E.B. Du Bois and Madam C. J. Walker) was amazing on so many levels.

I’m marvelling at the fewer than six degrees of separation among my fellow panelists. Madam Walker knew and interacted with Du Bois  and Wells, who were founders of the NAACP. Dr. Charles Drew was a star doctoral student at Columbia University during the 1920s (after Walker’s death) and was well-known to the older generation like Wells and Du Bois.

Many thanks to Kay McCrimon, the DuSable’s program manager, for bringing us all together.

Flier for DuSable Descendants Panel

We are ready to take this show on the road to universities, corporations and conferences!

Inside the Vaults at the National Archives

One of my favorite parts of writing a book is the research. You truly never know where a photograph, a newspaper clipping or a faded letter will lead you. When I started my research for On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker almost 40 years ago, I knew very little about Madam Walker’s childhood as Sarah Breedlove or (more…)