VOLUME 18, ISSUE 1 SPRING 2018
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African American Museum of Iowa 55 12th Avenue SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Phone: (319) 862-2101 Toll-free: 877-526-1863 Fax: (319) 862-2105
What is a Griot? A griot (pronounced gree-oh) is the member of a group who keeps the history. The Iowa Griot is the membership newsletter of the African American Museum of Iowa.
Board of Directors Dr. Vincent Reid (Robins), President Ben Hoover (Cedar Rapids), Vice President Doris Montag (Iowa City), Treasurer Tonya Scott (Ft. Madison), Secretary Rudolph Simms (Des Moines), Immediate Past President Anthony Betters, Jr. (Cedar Rapids) Jamarco Clark (Cedar Rapids) Ruth Hairston (Cedar Rapids) Dr. Benny Hawkins (Coralville) Nancy Humbles (Cedar Rapids) LaShonda Kennedy (Palo Alto, CA) Christopher Lindell (Marion) Candice Luter (Cedar Rapids) Judge Kevin McKeever (Iowa City) Ramadhan Muzo (Cedar Rapids) Scott Olson (Cedar Rapids) Dr. Neil Patrick (Afton) Dr. Jacqueline Thompson (Atlantic)
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Happy New Year! While we have much to celebrate in 2018, I have to share how well we ended 2017. We are grateful for the support of Richard and Norma Small, who challenged you to match their $10,000 contribution. Well, you more than met the challenge, helping the Museum bring in over $24,000 in just three months! We are in celebration mode as we quickly move into 2018, the Museum’s 25th Anniversary year. Yes, it’s been twenty-five years that the AAMI has been recognized as a leader in sharing Iowa’s African American history and culture across the state. This year, we are excited to bring you special events and programming to commemorate this tremendous milestone. I invite you to take a journey through this issue, noting some of the plans we have in store for you, including our “birthday party” on April 21, Juneteenth celebration on June 14-16 and our annual History Makers Gala on October 4. In the midst of those we’ll have a special performance series, and we’ll convene many programs and presentations throughout the year. We encourage you to stay connected to the Museum through our website, social media platforms, community calendars and mailers. As always, I look forward to seeing you at the next event, program, or in the gallery. Warmly, LaNisha
BOARD NEWS
Staff LaNisha Cassell, Executive Director Brianna Kim, Director of Operations Felicite Wolfe, Curator Krystal Gladden, Museum Educator Diana Henry, Education Assistant Alyssa Lesmeister, Communications Associate Sean Donaldson, Operations Coordinator
Membership & Subscriptions The Iowa Griot is published quarterly and is provided for members of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa. The Iowa Griot is copyright ©African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa. Reproduction in whole or part without the written consent of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa is prohibited. By submitting a manuscript or illustration, the author warrants to the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa that the material does not infringe on the copyright of another party and that the author assumes full responsibility for any such copyright infringement as may arise following publication. The Iowa Griot is not a scholarly publication. Opinions expressed by featured authors do not necessarily reflect the principles or policies of the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa, its board, membership, staff, editor or publisher(s). Neither the African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa board, membership, staff, editor or publisher(s) make any warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the contents of this publication or to goods and services that may be advertised herein. The African American Heritage Foundation of Iowa reserves the right to revise, edit, or refuse any material submitted for publication in The Iowa Griot.
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The AAMI board of directors held 2018 elections at their regular board meeting on December 16, 2017. New directors include: Anthony Betters, Jr., Jamarco Clark, Nancy Humbles and Candice Luter. Pictured above from left to right are 2018 officers: President, Dr. Vincent Reid; Vice President, Ben Hoover; Treasurer, Doris Montag; and Secretary, Tonya Scott. AAMI board of directors may serve up to two three-year terms and are responsible for strategic leadership and governance oversight.
ON THE COVER Keyhole pictures on the cover starting top center, clockwise: Man and young boy, handing pro football player Gale Sayers a ball to sign during an event at Westdale Mall, 2001 l Museum groundbreaking ceremony Dostal Lumar, Rep. Jim Leach, Lois Eichacker, Tom Moore, Mayor Lee Clancy, Joe McGill, 2002 l Flood Damage, June 2008 l The Museum today, 2016
History
A Little
Education BY KRYSTAL GLADDEN, MUSEUM EDUCATOR
Happened Here
One of the best things about the AAMI is its commitment to making sure Iowans understand that African American history is Iowa’s history. As an educator who is constantly looking for new and innovative ways to teach this history to students, I constantly strive to open dialogues about the African American experience, and find it amazing to see how far the AAMI has progressed on this path. After four and a half years with the Museum, I will be venturing out to explore a new path. As I think back over my time here, I am reminded of the amazing and unique history I’ve shared during my tenure. Here are a few highlights I’d like to share with you:
● Johnny Bright and the football helmet: In 1951, Drake University was undefeated before facing Missouri Valley rival Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) in Stillwater. Three times in the first quarter, the same A&M defensive tackle knocked the African American football player Johnny Bright out with illegal hits and was not penalized by officials. Just after the third hit, Bright threw a pass for a 60-yard touchdown play. Shortly thereafter, Bright was removed from the game with a broken jaw. Drake sidelined three A&M running
backs in retaliation. The Missouri Valley Conference refused to sanction A&M, and Drake withdrew from the conference for several years in protest and agreed to return to the Missouri Valley only after A&M left the Missouri Valley to join the Big 8. The incident received national attention and A&M was widely criticized. As a result of this incident, college football rules were changed and the helmet was redesigned to include a facemask. Oklahoma State officially apologized to Drake University for the incident in 2006.
● Laurence C. Jones and his wife, Grace Allen Jones, worked to better the educational systems in and out of Iowa. Laurence Jones graduated from the University of Iowa in 1907 and founded the Piney Woods
Country Life School in Mississippi in 1909. Grace was born in Keokuk and established the Grace M Allen Industrial School for African American students in Burlington, IA in 1902. It employed both black and white teachers and accepted students of any race. After the school closed in 1906, she went on to study public speaking and worked as a fundraiser and public speaker for education until she began working with her husband running Piney Woods. These are just a few of the amazing stories that AAMI staff and volunteers have shared with countless patrons over the past few decades. We highly encourage you to come visit the Museum to learn more about this amazing history that has helped shape the state of Iowa.
Museum Educator Krystal Gladden giving a tour of the exhibit, "Endless Possibilities."
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25 years of Preserving, Exhibiting, and Teaching
Iowa’s African American Heritage
In 1993, a meeting was held at the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids to discuss an idea that eventually became the African American Museum of Iowa. The next year, the African-American Heritage Foundation was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The organization held meetings in various locations around the community until 1996 when Mt. Zion donated the Museum a space at 835 8th Ave SE. During this period, volunteers led efforts to develop the Museum’s first exhibits, build the collection, grow membership, plan events, and publicize the organization.
AAMI Founders (L to R) James Clark, Johnny Brown, Marvin Steward, BeBe Davis, Thomas Levi Sr., and Thomas Moore
The Museum hired its first paid employee and Executive Director, Joe McGill, in 1998. In 2000, the Museum moved into a storefront at Westdale Mall on the advice of local business leaders who suggested the location as an affordable way to increase visibility and support. The space had room for offices, an exhibit, and gift shop. Programs were held in the community room next door. From 2000 to 2003, while the Museum was at Westdale, the capital campaign transformed from an idea into reality, spurred by a matching gift
Construction of the Museum’s current building, 2003
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from the Hall Perrine Foundation. Led by Development Director Joseph Nolte, the capital campaign raised $3.1 million. With enough money to build a standalone facility, Museum staff worked with the City of Cedar Rapids to secure a 99 year lease for an unused City-owned lot by the Cedar River, the Museum’s present location. The Westdale location closed in January 2003 when AAMI staff moved into the still in-progress new building. That same year, Joe McGill resigned as Executive Director and founder Tom Moore was named Interim Executive Director. Tom led the Museum until 2013 and then again from 2014-2016. The new Museum building opened to the public in 2003 upon the completion of the first permanent exhibit, “Doorways.” As it does to this day, the facility includes exhibit space, collections storage, staff offices, a rental hall, and library. In addition to the permanent exhibit, the gallery was designed to accommodate temporary, changing exhibits that featured many topics over the years. Over the next five years, the Museum’s staff, exhibits, and programs continued to grow. In June 2008, the Museum building took on over five feet of water when the Cedar River rose to its highest level in recorded history, damaging hundreds of artifacts and destroying the library, exhibits, and offices. With tremendous support from the community, the building was triaged, dry artifacts were stored off-site, and damaged artifacts were conserved. Staff were back in the building within six months, and within a year, the building had reopened to the public with a temporary exhibit. The new permanent exhibit, “Endless Possibilities,” opened in December 2009. The gallery still includes space for temporary exhibits, and at least one new exhibit is developed each year. In the five years since our 20th anniversary, our exhibits have looked at music, inventors, literature, and our own collection. In 2015 we hosted our first Smithsonian traveling exhibit, “Changing America.” Our educators have delivered dozens of programs each year both in Cedar Rapids and in communities across the state. Our traveling resources have grown to include several trunks and eight different exhibits. Our collection has grown to include thousands of objects, documents, photographs, and library books. In 2016, we expanded
The Museum’s location at Westdale Mall, 2000
our permanent exhibit “Endless Possibilities” in June, and in September the Cedar River rose to its second highest-level ever – second only to the 2008 flood that devastated the Museum. Staff enacted our emergency plan and evacuated the collection and exhibits, moving everything higher than six feet. The building stayed dry, but we learned valuable lessons and reflected once again on the tremendous support from the community.
The exhibit “Doorways,” which was destroyed in the 2008 flood and replaced by “Endless Possibilities”
Our Executive Director LaNisha Cassell took over from Tom Moore in 2017 and has led us through the development of a new strategic plan that will guide us through our 25th anniversary year and beyond with a focus on stability, building community relationships, and increasing engagement. Here’s to the next 25 years, as we work to achieve our vision of building a community that comes together to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of Iowa’s African American history and culture through conversation, engagement, and reflection.
EXHIBIT NEWS: Driven by Hope on exhibit now through July 2018, offers a glimpse of the AAMI’s collection of thousands of objects, documents, and photographs. Each item tells a unique story about African American history, communities, and culture in Iowa. The exhibit focuses on how history can transform everyday objects into invaluable records that help us learn about local history, change over time, and our state’s diverse communities and people.
Our next temporary exhibit, opening in August 2018, is entitled Driven by Hope. This exhibit will look at African American migration to Iowa from the end of the Civil War until the Great Depression. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the history of Iowa and the stories and events that brought African Americans to the state. It will provide a deeper understanding of how the social, economic, and political issues of the American South pushed African Americans to migrate North, and will allow visitors to reflect on how current issues in the African American community can be traced to issues of post- Civil War America.
HOMETOWN TEAMS The AAMI is proud to be part of The Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Development Group and Main Street Iowa’s hosting of Home Town Teams: How Sports Shape America, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit opening March 18, 2018, at the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon. This exhibit will allow visitors to put sports in the context of American culture and gain a better understanding of the role that sport plays in its interactions with families, schools, government, business, and other social institutions. Local community members, such as the AAMI, will be showcasing unique items to compliment the exhibit. We will be featuring local sports figures Art Pennington and Jack Trice. The exhibit runs through April 29, 2018.
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It’s Our Birthday!
Let’s celebrate with an all day party!
Saturday, April 21 018 3-2 199
10am-4pm
Sponsored By Community Supporters General Mills Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust Hills Bank & Trust Company Chick-fil-a
MEMBERS ONLY An additional
5% off in the Nikee Museum Store April 21st only (for a total of 15% off)
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Free Admission
FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY! Refreshments ~ Balloon Art Facing Painting ~ Clay Making Table-top & Take-home Activities Architecture Experience
VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Vincent Reid has served on the AAMI board of directors since 2015 and was recently elected President. As President, Dr. Reid is responsible for strategically collaborating with LaNisha Cassell, the Museum’s Executive Director to further the Museum’s mission. He conducts board meetings and ensures that the board’s directives are implemented and monitored. Dr. Reid is Medical Director of the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. He also holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology & Endocrine Surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Dr. Vincent
“The museum represents a place where we can be constantly reminded of the central role of African Americans in U.S. history.”
REID Our Fall Curatorial Intern was Shari Neal from University of Iowa’s School of Library and Information Science. Her interest in preservation brought her here to provide us with a preservation assessment of our textile collection, a survey of all collection items that contain cloth. This was a huge undertaking, as the collection includes a diverse range of items - from military medals and patches to garments and hats, from purses with fabric linings to dolls wearing clothes and a large collection of quilts. The assessment will help the museum make sure the preservation needs of the collection are being met.
Shari
NEAL
“Without the museum collection to evaluate, I would not have been able to hone my assessment skills. Reading about it in a book is completely different than holding an item and critically evaluating its condition, its storage, its records and its place in the collection. I am so grateful to the African American Museum of Iowa for providing me the opportunity to work with their textiles.”
Are you interested in volunteering at the AAMI? Check out blackiowa.org/volunteer for more information!
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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Cedar Rapids, IA 52406 Permit No. 943
55 12th Avenue SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Phone (319) 862-2101 Fax (319) 862-2105 www.blackiowa.org