Black Archives of Mid-America

Last updated

The Black Archives of Mid-America also known as BAMA is a learning and research center located in Kansas City, Missouri, focused on the African American experience in the central Midwest. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

The Black Archives of Mid-America is an archive that collects and preserves materials documenting the political, social and cultural histories of persons of African American descent in the central United States, with a focus on the Kansas City, Missouri region. The Black Archives of Mid-America honors the African-American community heritage of Mid-America, spreading awareness of this history by providing educational resources and sharing its collection to researchers, exhibitions, and publications. [5] The Black Archives of Mid-America holds an oral history collection collected in the mid-1970s comprising 97 audiocassettes, holding interviews of 56 people, mostly from Kansas City's African American community. [3] [6]

Related Research Articles

Kansas City, Missouri Largest city in Missouri, United States by population and area

Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the most populated municipality and historic core city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.

Oral history History taken verbally and recorded or transcribed

Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who participated in or observed past events and whose memories and perceptions of these are to be preserved as an aural record for future generations. Oral history strives to obtain information from different perspectives and most of these cannot be found in written sources. Oral history also refers to information gathered in this manner and to a written work based on such data, often preserved in archives and large libraries. Knowledge presented by Oral History (OH) is unique in that it shares the tacit perspective, thoughts, opinions and understanding of the interviewee in its primary form.

Platte County, Missouri County in Missouri, United States

Platte County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 106,718. Its county seat is Platte City. The county was organized December 31, 1838, from the Platte Purchase, named for the Platte River. The Kansas City International Airport is located in the county, approximately one mile west of Interstate 29 between mile markers 12 and 15. The land for the airport was originally in an unincorporated portion of Platte County before being annexed by Platte City, and eventually Kansas City.

Leavenworth, Kansas City and County seat in Kansas, United States

Leavenworth is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of the Missouri River. The site of Fort Leavenworth, built in 1827, the city became known in American history for its role as a key supply base in the settlement of the American West. During the American Civil War, many volunteers joined the Union Army from Leavenworth. The city has been notable as the location of several prisons, particularly the United States Disciplinary Barracks and United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth.

Kansas City, Kansas Consolidated city-county in Kansas, United States

Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, the county seat of Wyandotte County, and the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 156,607. The city formed as a streetcar suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. It is situated at Kaw Point, the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. It is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified Government". Wyandotte County also includes the independent cities of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, a portion of Lake Quivira, and the unincorporated area known as Loring.

St. Joseph, Missouri City in Missouri, United States

St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas. As of the 2020 census, St. Joseph had a total population of 72,473, making it the eighth largest city in the state, and the third largest in Northwest Missouri. St. Joseph is located roughly thirty miles north of the Kansas City, Missouri city limits and approximately 125 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska.

Springfield, Missouri City in Missouri, United States

Springfield is the third largest city in the state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 169,176. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which has an estimated 2021 population of 481,483 and includes the counties of Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster, and is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the state of Missouri.

Kansas City metropolitan area Metropolitan statistical area in the United States

The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri and Kansas. With 8,472 square miles (21,940 km2) and a population of more than 2.2 million people, it is the second-largest metropolitan area centered in Missouri and is the largest metropolitan area in Kansas, though Wichita is the largest metropolitan area centered in Kansas. Alongside Kansas City, Missouri, these are the suburbs with populations above 100,000: Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Kansas; Olathe, Kansas; Independence, Missouri; and Lee's Summit, Missouri.

National Endowment for the Humanities Agency of the US government supporting the humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C. From 1979 to 2014, NEH was at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.

Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM), formerly the Center for History and New Media (CHNM) is a research center specializing in history and information technology at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax County, Virginia. It was one of the first digital history centers in the world, established by Roy Rosenzweig in 1994 to use digital media and information technology to democratize history: to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. Its current director is T. Mills Kelly.

Mid-Continent Public Library

Mid-Continent Public Library, officially known as Consolidated Library District #3, is a consolidated public library system serving Clay, Platte, and Jackson Counties in Missouri, with headquarters in Independence, Missouri.

Quindaro Townsite Historical site

Quindaro Townsite is a former settlement, then ghost town, and now an archaeological district. It is around North 27th Street and the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks in Kansas City, Kansas. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 2002.

<i>Prince Among Slaves</i> 2008 film

Prince Among Slaves is a 2006 historical drama directed, written and produced by Andrea Kalin and narrated by Mos Def made for PBS by Unity Productions Foundation. The film, made in association with Spark Media and Duke Media, is based on the story of Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, a prince from Guinea who was made a slave in the United States and freed 40 years later.

Center for Public History and Digital Humanities

The Center for Public History and Digital Humanities is a digital humanities center in Cleveland, Ohio, based in the Department of History at Cleveland State University.

Northern Student Movement

(Image link broken ) coment: Latest NSM veterans Bill Strickland, Frank Joyce and Joan Cannaday Countryman in a 2010 panel discussion in Raleigh, N.C., sponsored by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Bruce R. Watkins

Bruce Riley Watkins and his stepfather Theron B. Watkins (1877–1950) were prominent political and social activists in Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri. The younger Watkins was the first African-American elected to Kansas City's City Council, in 1963; the first African-American elected to office in that county's administration, in 1966; and the first African-American to nearly win election as Kansas City Mayor, in April 1979. Watkins was a Republican and served as Chair of the Jackson County Democratic Committee. Watkins and his close friend Leon Jordan established the political club "Freedom, Inc." in 1962.

Samuel Proctor Oral History Program

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is the official oral history program at the University of Florida. With over 6,500 interviews and more than 150,000 pages of transcribed material, it is one of the premier oral history programs in the United States. SPOHP's mission is "to gather, preserve, and promote living histories of individuals from all walks of life." The program involves staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and community volunteers in its operation.

Ed Dwight

Edward Joseph (Ed) Dwight Jr. is an American sculptor, author, and former test pilot. He is the first African American to have entered the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. He was controversially not selected to officially join NASA.

Jonathan H. Earle

Jonathan H. Earle is an author, historian, professor, and dean. He is an historian of American politics and culture who focuses on the early republic and antebellum periods, especially the antislavery movement and the sectional crisis leading up to the Civil War. Currently Earle serves as Dean of the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College at Louisiana State University, a post he has held since 2014.

Horace M. "Pete" Peterson III was an archivist and historian.

References

  1. "The Black Archives of Mid-America | NEH-Edsitement". edsitement.neh.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  2. "Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City". Kansas City Public Library. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  3. 1 2 "Black Archives of Mid-America oral history collection - The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories (The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  4. "Black Archives of Mid America". Historic Kansas City. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  5. "Black Archives Of Mid-America - KC Parks and Rec". kcparks.org. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  6. Coulter, Charles E. (2016). Take Up the Black Man's Burden: Kansas City's African American Communities, 1865-1939. University of Missouri Press. ISBN   978-0-8262-2112-4.