Preserving black culture, history
Smithsonian project focuses on saving artifacts
Video
African American Treasures
Charlestonians brought their family treasures to Burke High School to have curators from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture inspect their artifacts so they can help local residents identify and preserve objects of historical and cultural significance with Save Our African American Treasures: A National Collections Initiative of Discovery and Preservation
The Post and Courier
Roberta Scott Boatti brought her old musical scores depicting African-Americans and mechanical banks to Burke High School to be inspected by curators from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is helping Charlestonians identify and preserve objects of historical and cultural significance.
The Post and Courier
Roberta Frasier brought a cloth document containing a record of family burial plots.
On the web
For more about the museum, go to nmaahc.si.edu
It was a yellowed and fragile piece of linen mapping the burial plots in a cemetery established by the Friendly Charitable Organization.
Reviewers from the Smithsonian Institution were extraordinarily careful as they wrapped it in acid-free paper, then put it in an acid-free box.
Roberta Frasier of Charleston brought the cloth that depicts where family and friends have been buried for generations to an event held to encourage preservation of items representing the African-American role in the American experience. Her great-great-grandfather, Henry B. Noisette, was a founder of the organization — a burial society that bought the land for the cemetery in 1878.
Black people could attend white churches but couldn't be buried in those cemeteries, so they formed societies.
"Most burial societies in Charleston limited their membership to 50 men of 'respectable character,' " said Leila Potts-Campbell, associate director of the Avery Research Center, who is studying such societies. "Members were required to pay an initial fee and monthly dues. They were expected to purchase a plot consisting of two, four or eight burying spaces for interment of their family."
It's comforting to have a record depicting where ancestors and their friends are buried because markers sometimes are destroyed by hurricanes and other natural events, Frasier said. Her late mother, Estelle Noisette Groover, took Frasier and her other children to tend the graves twice a year.
"Save Our African American Treasures: A National Collections Initiative of Discovery and Preservation," held Saturday at Burke High School, travels to cities around the country. Its principal host is the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, set to open in 2015 in Washington.
The traveling project primarily is aimed at encouraging blacks to preserve their treasures, said James Gordon, a public affairs specialist with the planned museum. Those who wish to donate their pieces should give them to a local institution, but he said the museum would consider accepting a donation of items that are highly significant on a national level.
The reviewers did not estimate the monetary value of the items brought to the event, but they discussed the materials they were made of with owners, estimated their ages and advised owners on how to preserve them and if they needed to seek professional assistance to protect the pieces.
About 30 people made reservations to have old treasures reviewed at the event's morning session, and an additional 15 to 20 were received without reservations, said Esther Washington, the museum's director of education. They brought old quilts, photographs, sweetgrass baskets, tools, blackface banks and other items. Washington said she expected even more area residents to attend the afternoon session.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., was among those watching during the morning session as reviewers from branches of the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, South Carolina State Museum and other organizations examined the pieces.
"I was taken by the picture of a fraternity at Howard University, Tau Delta Sigma, that I had never heard of," Clyburn said of the 1916 photograph. "I would like to follow up and research those who were in the photograph and find out what happened to them. There was also a quilt with a lot of circles, very colorful. A lot of work went into making that quilt."
Also at the event was Cornelius Richardson Jr. of James Island, who was pleased to learn that glass in a lantern he brought could be repaired and did not have to be replaced. In addition, he received advice on cleaning the metal tools and household items he brought for review. Richardson said he had spent far more time thinking about collecting than preserving and plans to follow the reviewers' advice on better ways to protect his treasures.
Lonnie G. Bunch, the museum's founding director, said the goal is to use artifacts steeped in tradition with modern technology to help tell the story of the nation through the African-American experience. Bunch said that every group within the country is responsible for telling part of that story.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be located on a five-acre Constitution Avenue site adjacent to the Washington Monument.
From noon until 5:30 p.m. today, the Smithsonian will be at the Penn Center, 16 Penn Center Circle West on St. Helena Island near Beaufort.
Reach Wevonneda Minis at wminis@postandcourier.com or 937-5705.
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Comments
omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
How long will it be before the trolls come out?
May 31, 2009 at 1:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CompostandWourier (anonymous) says...
Looks like it happened at 1:06 AM
May 31, 2009 at 6:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
"The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be located on a five-acre Constitution Avenue site adjacent to the Washington Monument."
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I promise you this sticks in the racists craw.
They can't stand the progress our country has made in the last generation. Especially when their symbols and ideology are being repudiated everywhere but a few insignificant ignorant backwaters.
May 31, 2009 at 6:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
moonpie (anonymous) says...
Ditto that ZERO.
Nothing wrong with this, I love history. But history is like racism there are 2 sides and a story to tell from both. Where the confederate flag may be offensive to some, so is painting it in African colors and putting it on a tee shirt. Where giving a day off for Martin Luther King and then giving a day as confederate memorial day is offensive to the oppposite thinkers.
Such is life. You should figure out where you came from to figure out where your going.
May 31, 2009 at 7:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
babeegurl (anonymous) says...
History is wonderful and nobody should look at history in racist way, it has made us who we are today. History is there so we can look at our mistakes and move forward to a better future! I love all history whether it's African-American Heritage to our Confederate Heritage it's all apart of ALL of us!
May 31, 2009 at 7:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
Confederate history is best left in the dust bin of history and remembered only as an example of how an immoral ideology corrupted and destroyed a portion of our nation.
It should not be forgotten but in no respect should it be celebrated.
The story of how minorities and moral citizens of the country stood up against and defeated the evil and immoral racists and those who supported them should however be celebrated yearly. Until the last of the racists are rooted out and destroyed our state will not be able to move from the bottom of the nation in quality of life.
As the true story is spread of the crimes carried out against an entire race the tolerance of those people who have failed to evolve will come to an end and our state can move forward from the bottom where it currently resides.
May 31, 2009 at 8:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BlackReign (anonymous) says...
Posted by AmericanZero "Looks like it happen at 1:06am, 6:30am and 6:45am...LOL"
And yet again the race baiting troll comes out at 8:19 am! lol
relamericanracist, do ever get tired of blathering (to talk foolishly at length), on with your tired old race baiting cow dung? Come on blue_eyes/Jimislander/spanky/johnq....
How long till you go ever the edge and have another screen name deleted?
Next time come back with the name: Malcolm Malcotent. Like that nu Malcolm that used to call into the Dan Moon show or other radio shows, what a whackO!
"Until the last of the racists are rooted out and destroyed our state will not be able to move from the bottom of the nation in quality of life."
You seem to be one of those hate filled racists realamerikannutjob.
Understanding and learning about history is a good thing as long as it isnt slanted to fit a certain political agenda. Which is just what realwastedamerican is doing in his nonsensical rants.
May 31, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PoliGadfly (anonymous) says...
If you are going to root out and destroy all the racists, you need not forget to look at those who claim to be victims of racism. I submit you'll find a fertile field for cultivation there.
May 31, 2009 at 9:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BlackReign (anonymous) says...
Posted by realamerican
"As the true story is spread of the crimes carried out against an entire race the tolerance of those people who have failed to evolve will come to an end and our state can move forward from the bottom where it currently resides."
This was a simple story on the Museum of African American History and Culture, but YOU realamericanracist, turned into an issue of hate and racism.
Tell us realamericancheeze, over the last 20-30 years, what race is responsibile for crime, violence, illegal drugs and murder of its own race?
Its time to stop blaming everyone else. Take responibility for your self and maybe the Museum of African American History and Culture, wont have to include the following;
In 2008 a total of 40 homicides were committed in Little Rock, 54% of which were committed by blacks against blacks. Nationally, homicide is the leading cause of death for black young men ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for black women ages 15-24.
There have been over 392 homicides reported over the last 5-6 years in Pulaski County. The United States spends an average of over 4.5 billion on emergency and physical/occupational therapy associated with crime-related injuries/deaths, with more than 720,000 spent on youths and young adults ages 10-24 treated for injuries sustained from violence.
While African Americans comprise 13.5% of the U.S. Population, 43% of all murder victims in 2007 were African American, 93.1% of whom were killed were African Americans.
Victimizations of African Americans from violent crime which include the following; rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple Assault was 24.3% in 2007, with the highest percentages of victimizations within the age ranges of 15-24 totaling a percentage greater than 38%.
http://www.hhscenter.org/bonbstat.html
May 31, 2009 at 9:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
how about preserving white culture, instead of constantly diluting it...
white culture isn't about slavery, it's about freedoms we've attained for ourselves as well as for the former slaves... not to mention the millions of other things the whites have achieved
no one will dare mention that though, as if it's taboo...
if not for the white man's accomplishments there would be NO America to celebrate anyone here's history
I mean no disrespect to the American Black community of course, you all have came very far too... but it was at the hand of the majority of the whites that you were freed and over the years given the opportunities we all now enjoy...
the black's in many other countries are still slaves to this day, including in many of their home countries... but not here in America!! we should all be grateful that we were blessed to have been either born or brought here...
May 31, 2009 at 12:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
Confederate history had nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with taxes
so many forget that the north had slaves too, and that once slaves were freed most stayed exactly where they had been all their lives because they were considered family by most of the plantation owners, and treated as such..
we only hear the bad over and over and over, but just like a bad apple in a tree there are hundreds of good apples in that tree as well
as one of the many good things they did the Confederates made the britons up north compromise in their attempt to over tax all of us, there would have been no point in leaving europe if we had left the union unchecked and life as we know it today would have never exisited... we'd just be little england...
you people that equate the confederates with slavery need to do a lot more research and find out who they really were
just as the black race doesn't want to be judged by the bad inside their own race, the confederates deserve the same respect
May 31, 2009 at 1:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
babeegurl (anonymous) says...
That is very true "AmericanZero" my husband is black (and very dark too), but he has a white great grandmother and you would never be able to tell that! Everyone should check out their backgrounds and a lot of people would be surprised in what they find out!
May 31, 2009 at 2:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
"Confederate history had nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with taxes"
That's the stupidest thing I've read in a long time. The entire confederacy was built on cheap agricultural labor, i.e. slavery.
White culture is the dominant culture in this country by default, Myron.
You're just mad because it is just as equal as any other ethnic group. No better, no worse. That's what most "white culture" proponents are worried about. You know that you aren't as superior as you think you are, Myron.
May 31, 2009 at 2:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jcncamscott (anonymous) says...
Once again, Black/White issue. With Caucasians rapidly becoming the minority, only then will we be able to establish our own cultural museum. What a SHAME!
May 31, 2009 at 3:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
issuetaker (anonymous) says...
I wonder if it might not be we all are still but slaves of govt.
May 31, 2009 at 3:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
Why doesn't it surprise me that Blackreign and jammer defend racists?
It's pretty obvious who the racists are, it's the 2 of you!
To the others who no doubt wanted to chime in support of you and your racism but were smart enough not to comment I commend you on using your heads for a change instead of the usual knee jerk responses to any article concerning those of color.
Too bad Blackreign hasn't yet figured out that his types day is done, never to return. Maybe next time blackie will at least fake evolving above a slackjawed neotard. I doubt it though. He is the kind that hides his true agenda as we know the Rush Limbaugh loving authority worshipers like to do. To bad he doesn't spew his filth in public. He wouldn't last 5 minutes before he got what he so richly deserves.
Think before you show your extreme ignorance next time. Make people wonder if you are a moron instead of opening your mouth and leaving no doubt.
May 31, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekboy (anonymous) says...
Posted by realamerican on May 31, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Make people wonder if you are a moron instead of opening your mouth and leaving no doubt.
*************************************************
Physician, heal thyself.
How many User Ids have you burned through in the last year?
May 31, 2009 at 5:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
Of course Geekboy would defend the racist trash.
No surprise there.
Heal yourself geekboy. You put yourself in the company of ignorance and racist hate. You fool no one. If it wasn't for people like you they would have quit long ago.
Why you think only one or two posters disagree with you idiots just shows how dense you are.
May 31, 2009 at 8:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekboy (anonymous) says...
Posted by realamerican on May 31, 2009 at 8:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Of course Geekboy would defend the racist trash.
No surprise there.
Heal yourself geekboy. You put yourself in the company of ignorance and racist hate. You fool no one. If it wasn't for people like you they would have quit long ago.
Why you think only one or two posters disagree with you idiots just shows how dense you are.
************************************************
You really should seek some professional help.. anger management therapy.
For all your cries that those who dare to disagree with you are racists spewing nothing but hatred, it's odd that you're the one who usually shows up first, spewing hatred and insults.
No, scratch that. It's not odd, it's pathetic.
May 31, 2009 at 9:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nappyd (anonymous) says...
Little Rock, Arkansas homicide stats? Really Blackrein, that's the best stat against minorities you could come up with? What did that have to do with an article in a SC newspaper? Way to cherry pick there.
I guess us white people should apologize for ruining the global economy then if you're going to talk about problems within a race. Or would you rather not blame that on white people and instead go with the "Zionist Jews" reference is made by only white supremacists.
June 1, 2009 at midnight ( permalink | suggest removal )
BlackReign (anonymous) says...
nappyd, the link also gives you national stats and links/info for where to get national stats. The Arkansas, site is a black American site, thats why I used it, the site is run by blacks that are sick and tired of black on black crime. I used that so hate mongers like realuslessamerican would have to label them racist too.
realuslessamerican - you were the FIRST to start your insane race baiting clap-trap, as you are usually the first to do so on any article that involves race issues. YOU ARE THE TRUE hate-filled racist.
nappyd on June 1, 2009 at midnight (Suggest removal)
"I guess us white people should apologize for ruining the global economy then if you're going to talk about problems within a race. Or would you rather not blame that on white people and instead go with the "Zionist Jews" reference is made by only white supremacists."
First it was affirmitive action loans that banks were FORCED to give to unqualified applicants based on their income and ability to pay, but got the loans anyway due to government pressure to be "fair" that led to the mortgage meltdown.
Second, I give you Louis Farrakhan - "For nearly 30 years, Louis Farrakhan has marked himself a notable figure on the extremist scene by making hateful statements targeting Jews, whites and homosexuals.
Farrakhan's bigoted and anti-Semitic rhetoric has included statements calling whites "blue eyed devils" and Jews "bloodsuckers" that controlled the slave trade, the government, the media and various Black individuals and organizations. In 2006, he blamed Jews and Israel for the war in Iraq, for controlling Hollywood and for promoting what he considers immorality during his February Saviours' Day address in Chicago."
http://www.adl.org/special_reports/fa...
and of course the The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years. He has a long history of hate-filled 'sermons'.
spare me your double standard, weak minded drone crap.
June 1, 2009 at 7:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
Not much love and tolerance here this morning...
June 1, 2009 at 9 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Now that whites are blacks and blacks are whites we should have no more problems.... we are all mixed....and because I'm now black I can use the N word like blacks always do and I can call myself a crackah too because I am. Even Barry o is white and black but is being dubbed the first black President, why bother with the fanfare? Besides Slick Willy said he was honored to be known as the first black President. So who actually was the first black President? Maybe Washington or Jefferson were the first black President or maybe Jimmy, he was from Georgia, lots of plantation inbreeding, maybe he's much blacker than Barry o. Hey now we can all be members of the NAACP and be hired for jobs under affirmative action. This is great being Black and White, everything is so black and white now, we should have done this eons ago. I've missed out on so much not knowing I was black. I always did have a fetish for sweet 'tater pie.
June 1, 2009 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
It was only a matter of time....geesh
I cannot wait until we are all brown....unfortunately we will probably find something else.....just like the Sneetches in Dr. Seuss' story.
June 1, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
Harold - remember the dog's behind......and try to be somewhat human.
Please!
June 1, 2009 at 11:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
O.J's cutlery set......now that's funny
June 1, 2009 at 11:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
"Make no mistake about it folks: white people are to blame for many things. Why shucks just sitting here I can think of food stamps, welfare, section 8 housing, forced busing, parole and probation, and yes, even the introduction of Afro-Sheen! We have blood on our hands as well."
Except for the afro-sheen, whites lead blacks in all of these categories.
Pick up your consolation prize on the way out.
June 1, 2009 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
Don't forget the "Soul Glo"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktl6L3...
June 1, 2009 at 2:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ltgrunt (anonymous) says...
Jammer, most if not all of the northern states had already abandoned slavery by the time the Civil War started, not only because it was an evil and immoral institution, but because it turns out it wasn't all that profitable anyway. What the southern farmers eventually figured out was that sharecropping was much better, because it still allowed landowners to legally force tenants to work sunup to sundown without pay or with extremely little pay, but it also made the tenants pay for their own necessities. The sharecropping system is why former slaves tended to stick close to the families who used to own them, not this warm and fuzzy revisionist history notion that they felt like family.
Also, Jammer, slavery was a very big part of the Civil War. Specifically, part of the issue was taxes tied directly to slavery that southern states were refusing to pay. And when the Cornerstone Speech, given by Confederate vice president Stephens, goes to great lengths to point out the northern states' hostility toward the institution of slavery as the first and foremost cause of the southern secession, it renders moot more modern attempts to diffuse the issue.
Still, there's no need for any of this to have come up in discussion about this article. This article is a positive look at some peoples' historical treasures and the hope that those items can be preserved and passed on as part of family and national legacies. There's no need to make this a black vs. white issue when our entire society benefits from exploring and cataloging its rich history and traditions.
June 1, 2009 at 4:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
geekboy (anonymous) says...
Posted by Luna on June 1, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It was only a matter of time....geesh
I cannot wait until we are all brown....
************************************************
So you're saying all our problems will be solved by the end of this summer?
(Bah-dum-dum!)
June 1, 2009 at 4:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AFWally (anonymous) says...
I wonder if Tookie's billy club is gonna be on display or HK Edgerton's Confederate Flag?
June 1, 2009 at 6:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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