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Books by Marcus Bruce
Christian
Song of the Black Valiants: Marching Tempo
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High Ground: A Collection of Poems /
Negro soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans
I am New
Orleans: A Poem
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900 /
The Liberty Monument
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Letter 28
Christian notified of Rosenwald Fund
Fellowship
JULIUS ROSENWALD FUND
4901 Ellis Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
April 21, 1943
Dear Mr. Christian:
It is a pleasure to inform you that you have been selected by the Committee on Fellowships of the Julius Rosenwald Fund to
receive a grant of one thousand six hundred dollars ($1,600)
to enable you to continue work on THE HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN LOUISIANA for a twelve month period.
In the event that you
join the armed forces before you have made substantial progress under this fellowship, it will be impossible to hold this
grant for you.
Will you please let me know at once whether or not you can accept the fellowship? An announcement of the Committee's
selections will soon be made, and it can include only those from whom acceptances have been received.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. William C.
Haygood
Acting
Director for Fellowships
<<---Previous Next--29->>
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Julius Rosenwald
(1862-1932) founded the Museum of Science and Industry and built
Sears Roebuck into the America’s leading mail order house. But
his most lasting legacy may be little known. Rosenwald, the son
of German-Jewish immigrants, rose to become one of the
wealthiest men in America as well as a beloved humanitarian
whose commitment to social justice lead to historic change for
black Americans.
Influenced by the social
gospel espoused by Rabbi Emil Hirsch of Chicago Sinai
Congregation, Rosenwald used his great wealth and talent for
social good and justice. Reports are that he gave away $63
million. |
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Inspired by Booker T. Washington,
Rosenwald spurred the establishment of 25 YMCA-YWCAs to serve
African-Americans in cities across the U.S., including the
Wabash Avenue YMCA in Chicago. (Existing Y’s at the time
served only whites.) In addition, he established one of the
nation’s first housing projects, on Chicago’s South Side,
and, with challenge grants, seeded the creation of more than
5,000 schools for black children in southern states at a time
when few received any public education.
In 1917, he established the Julius Rosenwald
Fund, a charity for the economic, medical and cultural
advancement of blacks in America, with an endowment of $30
million. He also gave about $6.6 million to establish the Museum
of Science and Industry in Chicago, and more than $4 million to
the University of Chicago.
American merchant and philanthropist Julius
Rosenwald was born and educated in Springfield, Ill., and served
as vice-president and treasurer (1895) of the mail-order concern
of Sears, Roebuck & Co. He became president of the company
in 1910 and chairman of the board of directors in 1925.
He introduced the concept of mail-order
business, and created one of the first savings and
profit-sharing plans for employees.
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Do not be fooled into
believing that because a man is rich he is necessarily smart.
There is ample proof to the contrary.
Julius
Rosenwald
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Edith Rosenwald Stern was the daughter of
Julius Rosenwald who was the head of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and
also a philanthropist in Chicago. Edith married Edgar Bloom Stern,
a prominent New Orleans businessman, in 1921. While Mrs. Edgar
Stern focused her attention on establishing the Newcomb Nursery
School and the Metairie Park Country Day School, Edgar was
becoming involved in philanthropic pursuits as well as excelling
as a business leader.
In 1930 he was made planning chairman of the
fundraising drive to merge two local African-American schools,
Straight College and New Orleans University, into Dillard
University. At the university’s founding, he became the first
president of its board of directors, a post that Edith Stern
filled after his death in 1959.
Both Sterns are buried at their showcase home,
Longue Vue, in New Orleans.
The Rosenwald Fund for County
Libraries
The Julius Rosenwald Fund in 1929
decided to offer aid to libraries in the southern states.
According to the terms of the offer two libraries in each of the
13 states of the section would be helped to extend their service
to include all residents of the county in which the library
operated.
The conditions of the grant called
for service to all elements of the population, city and rural,
white and Negro. Emphasis was laid on service to rural people, and
it was proposed that branch reading rooms be established and that
books be carried also to people living in isolated sections of the
open country. * *
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Selected Letters
Selected Diary Notes Memories of Marcus B. Christian
(Cains) Christian's
BioBibliographical Record Introduction to I AM NEW
ORLEANS
A
Theory of a Black Aesthetic Magpies,
Goddesses, & Black Male Identity
Activist Works on Next Level of Change
Intro to I Am New
Orleans
Letter from Dillard University
A
Labor of Genuine Love
Letter of Gift of
Photos
Letters from
LSU and Skip Gates * * *
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Negro Iron Workers of Louisiana: 1718-1900
By Marcus Bruce Christian
Study of the blacksmith tradition and New
Orleans famous lace balconies and fences.
Acclaimed during his life
as the unofficial poet laureate of the New Orleans
African-American community, Marcus Christian recorded a
distinguished career as historian, journalist, and literary
scholar. He was a contributor to Pelican's
Gumbo Ya Ya, and also wrote many articles that appeared
in numerous newspapers, journals, and general-interest
publications. |
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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A Wreath for Emmett Till
By Marilyn Nelson; Illustrated by
Philippe Lardy
This memorial to
the lynched teen is in the Homeric
tradition of poet-as-historian. It is a
heroic crown of sonnets in Petrarchan
rhyme scheme and, as such, is quite
formal not only in form but in language.
There are 15 poems in the cycle, the
last line of one being the first line of
the next, and each of the first lines
makes up the entirety of the 15th. This
chosen formality brings distance and
reflection to readers, but also calls
attention to the horrifically ugly
events. The language is highly
figurative in one sonnet, cruelly
graphic in the next. The illustrations
echo the representative nature of the
poetry, using images from nature and
taking advantage of the emotional
quality of color. There is an
introduction by the author, a page about
Emmett Till, and literary and poetical
footnotes to the sonnets. The artist
also gives detailed reasoning behind his
choices. This underpinning information
makes this a full experience, eminently
teachable from several aspects,
including historical and literary—School
Library Journal |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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