The Black Oaks Newsletter

Volum 3, Issue 2 Spring 2009

‘Mirror to America’: The Legacy of Dr. John Hope Franklin

Former profes- Franklin received a bachelor's tory department and held an sor, historian, and scholar John degree from all-black Fisk Uni- endowed faculty position. Hope Franklin, who championed versity in Nashville, TN in 1935 better race relations in the U.S. – he was denied admission to The National Endowment for for decades, died on Wednes- the University of Oklahoma the Humanities selected Franklin day morning., March 25th. He because of his race – and he in 1976 for the Jefferson Lec- was 94. Franklin died at Duke went on to earn master's and ture, the government's highest University Hospital of conges- doctoral degrees from Harvard honor for achievement in the Dr. John Hope tive heart failure, university University. History fascinated humanities. His three-part lec-

Franklin officials said. He is survived by him because it provided a ture became the basis for his 1915-2009 his son, John Whittington Frank- chance to confront the past book Racial Equality in America. lin, and other family members. A while at the same time creating Franklin was named the James B. memorial service will be held in future opportunities. Before Duke Professor of History at Duke Chapel on June 11, which joining the faculty of Howard Duke in 1983, and taught legal would have been his and his late University in Washington, D.C history at the Duke law school wife's 69th anniversary. in 1947, he published his seminal for seven years. His relationship book, From Slavery to Freedom: A with Duke spawned the John Inside this issue: Franklin's story began in the History of African-Americans, Hope Franklin Center for Inter- tiny, all-black town of Renties- which has sold millions of copies disciplinary and International ville, in eastern Oklahoma, and been translated into six Studies and the Franklin Hu- where his father was a lawyer languages. While teaching at manities Institute. SA: Building a 2 and his mother taught elemen- Howard, Franklin joined the Legacy of tary school. They taught him the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Clinton tapped him in 1997 to Service value of hard work and dili- team that helped develop the chair a seven-member panel for gence, but he learned the les- sociological case for the Brown the president's Initiative on Neal performs 2 sons of racism from the segre- v. Board of Education case that Race. The effort tried to pro- AAASE Exter- gated South. When he was six, led to the landmark U.S. Su- mote a dialog about lingering nal Review he and his mother were re- preme Court decision in 1954 racism in American in an effort moved from a train because that ended the legal segregation to breach divides and bring the they refused to move to a com- of black and white children in country together. "We have to Malveaux & 3 partment for blacks. Later, he public schools. He also took get to know each other in a way Lambert’s Fire- tried to help a blind, white part in civil rights marches with we don't," Franklin said. "I'm not side Chat woman cross a street in Tulsa, Martin Luther King Jr. in Mont- suggesting that this, in itself, is a Okla.homa "Can you imagine gomery, AL in the 1960s. “I final healing process, but it cer- Kinobe & Soul 3 being rejected by a blind, white want to be out there on the tainly is the beginning." Beat Africa woman in the middle of the firing line, helping, directing or Perform street while I was helping her doing something to try to make John Hope Franklin lived for across?" he said. "When she this a better world, a better nearly a century and helped Burundi’a For- 3 heard that I was black, she told place to live,” he said. In 1956, define that century,” Duke gotten Story me to take my filthy hands off he was named chairman of the President Richard Brodhead her." When he was 19, he was all-white history department at said. Gov. Beverly Perdue threatened with lynching in Brooklyn College, becoming the noted, “He personified giving Salute to the 4 Mississippi because he had the first black to head a major his- and his work, which advances 2009 AAASE audacity of walking into an ice- tory department. He spent eight the understanding of African- Graduates cream parlor and asking to be years there before moving to American contributions was served. the University of Chicago, unmatched by any other. He will Faculty & Stu- 5 where he again chaired the his- be sadly missed.” dent Award Recipients Page 2 The Black Oaks Newsletter

South Africa Winter Term Course Builds a Legacy of Service

Since 2007, Elon students en- acy Initiative. Adopt-a-Student change rate that favored the rolled in the “Call of South asks U.S. sponsors to contrib- United States dollar and the Africa” winter term study ute $40 to support a child's continued support of Elon stu- abroad course have embarked education for one year, and dents, family, and friends, the on journeys of personal, cul- began with the modest goal of 2009 class doubled its impact, tural, and historical discovery. sponsoring 25 students and sponsoring more than 155 In their comparative analyses of donating a few children's books students as they helped open forms of protests and recon- to the empty shelves of the the school's library with an ciliation movements in the US library at the Ekukhanyisweni array of books, most of which and South Africa. Following Primary School in Alexandra, were donated by Dan & Laurel the numerous calls from stu- South Africa. Elon students in Woods of the Tennessee-based dents after their return “to do the 2008 program surpassed Sapphire Foundation (and par- something,” the course the initial goal by sponsoring 73 ents of Amber Woods „10, adopted service-learning peda- students with school and gym who participated in the pro- gogy and developed the Adopt- uniforms and supplies and gram). For more info., visit the a-Student program and the some books were donated to class blog at http://idd.elon.edu/ Global Links Library and Liter- the school. Helped by an ex- sasa or email [email protected]

Broader Disciplines & Departments Engaged in A/AAS-Related Research Unprecedented cross-disciplinary Research topics related to in locations spanning the globe, Sustainable Energy Solutions in Black life and culture have al- including: Alison Brooks‟ Ghana.” Amber L. Christino‟s research and ways been well represented at “Using Waste Stabilization presentation “Les Relations scholarship Elon‟s Student Undergraduate Ponds to Improve Water Qual- Contemporaines Entre la Research Forum, but the 2009 ity: A Case Study of the Uni- France Et L‟afrique : ¿De Quelle collaborations program saw presentations versity of Dar Es Salaam Cam- Façon Est-Ce Que Sarkozy est taking place from a wide array of disciplines, pus, Tanzania;” Amanda K. en Train de Changer la including Political Science, Brown & Megan A. Prilutski‟s Politique Gaulliste?” was deliv- among AAASE Mathematics, Environmental “Understanding the Relation- ered entirely in French and- students and Studies, Foreign Languages, and ship between National Health- Megan L. Dempsey conducted Business. Also noteworthy is care and Malaria in Ghana;” and “An Analysis of the Introduc- faculty and across the fact that many of the stu- Kristin R. Schulz & John R. tion of Gender Quota Systems dents performed their research McGreevy‟s “The Prospects of in Sub-Saharan Africa. campus.

Duke Professor Mark Anthony Neal Performs AAASE External Review

external evaluation. Duke is cluding NewsOne.com. Neal‟s one of ‟s aspi- blog “Critical Noir” appears at rant institutions. Dr, Neal ar- Vibe Magazine. Dr. Neal will rived on campus on Thursday, provide a copy pf his report of May 7th, 2009 to c.hat with the program by June 2009, and students, faculty, staff, and ad- a copy will be made available to Since its previous evaluation in ministrators about their experi- program faculty and staff, the 2003 by Dartmouth professor ences and desires for the pro- Dean of Elon College, the Col- J. Martin Fowler, renowned gram. Dr. Neal is the author lege of Arts and Sciences and scholar Dr. Mark Anthony and co-editor of several books. the . The suggestions Neal, Professor of Black Popu- A frequent commentator for from the report will be used to lar Culture in the African/ National Public Radio‟s News advance the program‟s mission, African-American Studies pro- and Notes with Farai Chideya, objectives, and goals of its cur- gram at Duke University per- Neal also contributes to sev- rent five-year plan (2006-11). formed the program‟s second eral on-line media outlets, in- Volum 3, Issue 2 Page 3

AAASE Sponsors Presidential Fireside Chat with Malveaux & Lambert

On April 8th, 2009, President discussed the common chal- expenses. “The goal must be to of for lenges and differences between have students feel at home in Women, economist, author, Elon and Bennett, a historically the world,” Malveaux said, and commentator Dr. Julianne black all-women school that while Lambert noted that Elon Malveaux, joined Elon Univer- enrolls 689 students at its cam- graduates no longer assume sity President, Dr. Leo Lambert pus in Greensboro, N.C. Both that their first job will be in the for a historic Presidential presidents said they are inter- United States. The two presi- “Fireside Chat.” The event ested in increasing student dents discussed the financial spearheaded by AAASE and diversity, but face economic pressures on students in the cosponsored by W/GS at Elon, challenges in providing scholar- wake of the world economic the Elon University Members of ships to students from varied crisis. “Public universities are , and the offices socioeconomic backgrounds. being gutted,” Lambert said, of the presidents solicited They also talked about the while Malveaux noted that Julianne Malveaux, questions from both campus importance of maintaining government funding is going to President, Bennett communities that dealt with strong global studies and study bail out major corporations College for Women the challenges of higher educa- abroad programs, even as col- while spending on education is tion. Malveaux and Lambert leges look for ways to reduce falling at all levels . . . .

The two presidents agreed to explore ways Kinobe Headlines AAASE Banquet & Brings Uganda to Life that Elon and Bennett Famed Ugandan musician Ki- African literature, those en- can cooperate and build nobe Herbert and his band Soul rolled in Global Studies classes, partnerships, perhaps Beat Africa made Elon a stop as and those simply curious about establishing academic part of their three-month the music and Ugandan life. American tour. The quintet, Kinobe Herbert, the leader of exchange programs for provided musical entertainment the band, is a prodigy himself. students and faculty, or at the AAASE Graduating Sen- Considered a master musician linking community iors Banquet on Monday, May and the premier authority in his 4th in McKinnon Hall and per- country on traditional music outreach programs. The formed a free concert for the and instruments, all of which he dream is to visit every country event concluded with Elon community the following builds himself, Kinobe demon- in the world and to settle even- the two presidents evening. Punctuating their strated their use for Elon stu- tually in the Caribbean. He is major performances were class dents. Fluent in 7 languages, well on his way to achieving exchanging gifts as visits, workshops and discus- including Spanish, French, Eng- that goal having traveled to tokens of the occasion. sions with students studying lish and Portuguese, Kinobe‟s more than 50 countries.

Burundi: A Forgotten Country, A Forgotten People When Goretti Kurgat returned going about their lives while the Rwandan genocide in 1994, to her native Burundi last sum- children are suffering, and ". . . which Americans are more mer, she didn't expect to meet somehow the country is mov- familiar with because of media a five-year-old boy who makes ing on as if it's acceptable." attention and films like "Hotel his living digging through gar- Kurgat said the government has Rwanda." According to fresh- bage for charcoal, which Burun- likely not taken much action man Frank Stiefel, president of dians use in cooking, and selling because they don't have Students Taking Action Now: it on the street. For many Bu- enough money. Burundi is cur- Darfur, "Everyone knows about rundian children, these experi- rently one of the poorest coun- Rwanda and its genocide, but ences are a way of life. Kurgat tries in the world. The prob- Burundi is right next to it, spoke to Elon students on April lems there stem from the con- "What people don't realize is 27th about her experiences in flict between the Hutus and the that genocide has affected Bu- Goretti Kurgat Burundi and what she plans to Tutsis, the two main ethnic rundi, too." Kurgat is in the Burlington Resident, do to help the children there. groups in Burundi, and the process of starting a non-profit Burundi Citizen Kurgat noticed most people same gtoups responsible for organization to help them. Congratulations to the AAASE Graduating Minors, Class of 2009

The thirteen members of the Class of 2009, graduating with a minor in African/African-American Studies, will leave an indelible mark on the program. Their interests and talents are diverse, but their curiosity about, advo- cacy and passion for Black life and culture will continue long after they have left Elon.

Cherisse Armour received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Hailing from Waxhaw, NC, Cheri has been ac- cepted to pursue a Masters in Social Work at NC State University, beginning in Fall 2009.

Michael Blake will be pursuing a Masters in Music Education at the University of Mississippi in the Fall. He has secured a graduate assistantship working with the Ole Miss Band and an African-American Fellowship.

Christopher Briggs hails from Durham, NC and graduates with a degree in Philosophy. In his own words, Chris says he is “in the process of pursuing beneficial and worthwhile experiences during the fall.” For Spring 2010, however, he has a plan. He will be applying to law school.

Carolyn Byrne from North Branford, CT, will assume the post of Volunteer Coordinator in the APPLES Service- Learning Program through Americorps VISTA. She plans to return to graduate school within two years, possibly to pursue a degree in community development. She received a degree in Sociology.

Tiffany Carter is originally from Gaitersburg, MD. She plans to pursue a career with the Smithsonian Institute, and would love the opportunity to work with the staff at the National Museum for African-American History and Culture, ultimately securing the position as Museum Curator. Tiffany will enroll in graduate school in the next year or two and has her eye on the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University where she hopefully will pursue a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Federal Policy, Politics and Management.

Deborah Felton is from Rochester, NY. She graduated with a degree in Political Science and specialties in Criminal Justice and AAAS.

Bonnie Harvey the residents of Grafton, West are extremely proud of their hometown girl, who will spend the next two years in Malawi with the Peace Corps, coordinating AIDS prevention education programs. After her stint ends in 2011, Bonnie plans to pursue a Masters in International Community Development. Bonnie graduated with a degree in International Studies. (Wilhelmina Boyd AAASE Scholar, 2009)

Jessica Henson majored in International Studies and French with a minor in Anthropology.

Courtney Latta is a local girl, from Winston-Salem, NC. She will be interning for a year in Leogane, Haiti, help- ing to run a guest house and collecting and analyzing data about the Hearth Model of the Children’s Nutrition program being enacted there. After, she plans to attend UNC’s School of Public Health in the Fall of 2010. Courtney’s degree is awarded in International Studies.

Evan Ross from Warwick, RI graduated with a degree in Environmental Studies and majors in Biology and Ge- ography. Evan was a Periclean Scholar in the class of 2009 and spent a semester abroad in Kenya.

Jacqueline Seidel from West Chester, PA graduated with a degree in Corporate Communications with a minor in International Studies.

Laura Veno received her degree in International Studies with a minor in French. She hails from Columbia, TN and plans on joining the Peace Corps to serve in Africa.

Maggie Zimmerman was an Honors Fellow and graduated with degrees in International and Environmental Studies and an additional minor in Geography. She hails from St. Charles, IL.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WILHELMINA BOYD AAASE SCHOLAR 2009 MISS BONNIE HARVEY, ‘09

The award recipient writes: “My interest in African studies began early during my freshman year of college. A new world of cultures and histories opened up to me through books and cultural events. Solidifying my passion was the reading of the year: Escape from Slavery by Francis Bok. Seeing him and hearing his story first hand made the continent real, connected to my life through this one very impressive man. From there it became a sort of passion as I took just about every class Elon had to offer with „Africa‟ in its title. Then, bringing everything closer to home I took a Civil Rights course my sophomore year which showed a cross over in freedom struggles and just how similar people‟s lives really are. . . . I hope to continue working with minority groups and help in giving them a fighting chance. I don‟t know for sure where I will be in five years, but I do know I will still be working with this passion. My freshman year interest has turned into a life dedication that I am overly excited about and can‟t wait to see unfold. Congratulations to Bonnie Harvey who will be stationed in Malawi in the next two years as a member of the Peace Corps.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AAASE FACULTY MEMBER OF 2009 DR. CHARLES IRONS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

The AAASE Faculty Member of the Year award goes to a person who has shown meritorious service and contributed significantly to the pro- gram‟s growth in the past year and is awarded at the discretion of the Program Coordinator. This year‟s recipient has taught courses such as: the United States through 1865, Jefferson's America, America's Civil War, Slavery in British North America. In 2008, our recipient published his first book, The Origins of Proslavery Christianity: White and Black Evangelicals in Colonial and Antebellum Virginia from the University of Press, which answers the question of how early American white plantation owners justified slavery when they worshipped every Sunday in the same churches alongside the black men and women whom they claimed to own. He continues to distinguish himself in his field and has been named one of ten Young Scholars in American Religion by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, the premier research insti- tute in the nation working in American religious studies. Finally, as a CATL Scholar, our faculty member of the year bridges his research with his teaching and mentoring, and has created an invaluable database entitled “Other Souths,” a digital archive containing thousands of searchable re- cords about Alamance County residents during the Civil War. The site allows researchers and the general public to sort through Census data and Confederate military records to glean a better understanding of the county before and after the war. In the next two years, he will continue to share his expertise with his lumen scholar, Amber Woods, whose project will look at Ecclesiastical tensions in Kentucky, 1790-1854.

African/African-American Studies at Elon University — Mission Statement

The mission of the program is to provide imaginative and productive spaces that foster excellence, nurture the scholarly and cultural pursuits of our students and faculty, bring global exposure to the program, and expose a wider cross-section of the Elon University community to the histories, so- cieties, politics, languages, cultures, and economies of Black people within the United States, Africa, and throughout the world. In addition to its prin- African/African American ciple aim of stimulating teaching, research, scholarship, and service, the pro- Studies gram will also serve as a national and international forum for individuals and Elon University organization with an interest in and concern for African-Americans, Africa, 2338 Campus Box and the rest of her Diaspora. Elon. NC 27244 Phone: 336-278-5618 E-mail: [email protected]

The Coordinator’s Corner (In Memoriam to John Hope Franklin)

Dr. John Hope Franklin last Order that set standards of employee visited Elon on April 19th, 2006 conduct including complicated but a mem- to deliver the lecture “Stalking patterns of relationships. ber. To the Historian.” He plotted the These lasted not merely until these every-

challenges he faced as a young emancipation but after Recon- day, ordi- Visit our website: scholar developing in racially- struction and on into the twen- nary experi- www.elon.edu/aaase charged America to rescue one tieth century. Many of them ences during man‟s life-story from obscurity were still very much in place ninety years while fighting simultaneously to when beginning in the late in the become „visible‟ in a society 1950s, the sit-ins, marches, and American AAASE Program that tried to render him invisi- the black revolution began an race jungle Coordinator ble. Like his life, his passing onslaught of some of the ante- should be Dr. Prudence Layne again turns a „mirror to Amer- diluvian practices that had be- added the ica.‟ Just how far have we come a part of the very fabric problem of trying to live in a come? The following excerpt of society in the New World community where the eco- taken from chapter 1, “No and American society in par- nomic and social odds clearly Crystal Stair,‟ of his text Mirror ticular. Born in 1915, I grew up placed any descendant of Afri- to America, the Autobiography of in a racial climate that was cans at a disadvantage. . . .” So John Hope Franklin, suggests we stifling to my senses and dam- at his death, Dr. Franklin saw still have a long way to go: aging to my emotional health us elect the nation‟s first Afri- “Living in a world restricted by and social well-being. Society can-American President, but laws defining race, as well as at that time presented a chal- the problems of the „race jun- creating obstacles, disadvan- lenge to the strongest adult, gle‟ he described persists. The tages, and even superstitions and to a child it was not merely mission of his work by his own regarding race, challenged my difficult but cruel. . . . The cli- words and standards was to capacities for survival. For mate touched me at every “replace superstitions with ninety years I have witnessed phase of my life. I was forcibly humane dignity.” We choose countless men and women removed from a train at the here to honor the legacy of likewise meet this challenge. age of six for having acciden- John Hope Franklin because in Some bested it; some did not; tally taken a seat in the “white the AAASE mission to „. . . many had to settle for any people‟s coach” . . . . I was expose a wider cross-section accommodation they could. I called a “Harvard nigger” at age of the Elon University commu- became a student and eventu- forty. At age forty-five, because nity to the histories, societies, ally a scholar. And it was armed of race, banks de- politics, languages, cultures, and with the tools of scholarship nied me a loan to purchase a economies of Black people that I strove to dismantle those home. At age sixty I was or- within the United States, Af- laws level those obstacles and dered to serve as a porter for a rica, and throughout the disadvantages and replace su- white person in a New York world,” we continue his work perstitions with humane dig- hotel, at age eighty to hang up a to use the “tools of scholar- nity. . . .Slavery was a principal white guest‟s coat at a Wash- ship” and service to honor centerpiece of the New World ington club where I was not an Africa‟s peoples. (R.I.P. JHF)