"Preserve Your Legacy: African American History in Texas"Guest Speaker: Delicia Daniels
Thursday, February 24, 2011
2:30 pm | CFO 204
In an event co-sponsored by History and Government and the Office of Intercultural Services, Delicia Daniels delivered a public lecture, "Preserving a Legacy: African American History in Texas." Professor Daniels teaches English at Wiley College, a historically black college in Marshall, Texas, the college that challenged Harvard for the national collegiate debate championship as depicted in the film, The Great Debaters. Professor Daniels is the editor-in-chief for the journal, Preserving Your Legacy: African American History in Texas. After her public lecture, Professor Daniels had dinner with a group of interested students, graduate students, and faculty.
Photo: Michele Prudhomme (Intercultural Services), Professor Delicia Daniels, Dr. Sara Fanning (History), and Dr. Mark Kessler (History Chair)
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Celebrating Black History Month & The Contributions of Black Texans
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Dr. John Biggers (1924-2001) was an internationally acclaimed artist and teacher. He was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, but spent most of his adult life in Texas. His work featured in Harlem Renaissance exhibits such as the “Young Negro Art” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was fascinated with print, drawing, painting and sculpture, but was best known as a painter of murals. Social realism influenced his early work as did images of African and African American culture. As he matured, his style became more symbolic and abstract. He spent more than fifty years in Texas, first at Texas State University, where he founded the art department. Upon retirement, he lived and worked in Houston. To learn more about Dr. John Biggers and his art click these links: http://atlantis.coe.uh.edu/biggers/index.html |
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Maud Cuney-Hare (1874–1936) was the daughter of Norris Wright Cuney, a prominent figure in the Texas Republican Party in the late nineteenth century. She lived in Texas until she went to the New England Conservatory of Music to study piano. Later, she gave recitals and played concerts throughout the United States. She wrote essays and reviews for many publications, including The Crisis Magazine, the journal of the NAACP . Her most celebrated writing on music was her book, Negro Musicians and Their Music, published in 1936. To read an excerpt of this work, click this link: http://www.negroartist.com/music/Negro%20Musicians%20and%20Their%20Music.pdf |
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Matthew Gaines (1840-1900) was a former slave who served as a Republican Texas state senator during Reconstruction. He campaigned for black rights and free public education throughout his career but faced white resistance. He was even attacked by a mob outside the Texas capitol. In constant jeopardy, he only served four of his six year term. Despite the curtailment of his political career, he continued to work for black civil rights. To learn more about Gaines, Reconstruction, and the challenges faced by black Reconstruction leaders click this link: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/forever/representation/page7.html |
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Barbara Jordan (1932-1996) became the first African American woman elected to the US congress from the state of Texas in 1972, serving for six years as a Democratic representative. She began her career as a lawyer. In 1967, she was elected as a state senator, Next, she ran for national office. Once in Washington, she pushed for the Equal Rights Amendment and for minority rights. She returned to Texas after her term in office, and taught at the University of Texas at Austin. She gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1976 that is considered one of the finest speeches ever delivered in that venue. To listen to this speech and to learn more about the career and life of Barbara Jordan, click this link: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordan1976dnc.html |
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Norris Wright Cuney (1846–1898) was a political power broker in Texas in the late nineteenth century. He served as a national delegate to the Republican national convention between 1872 and 1892. He became the chairman of the Texas Republican Party after the death of Governor Edmund J. Davis in 1883, leading the state delegation at the national committee in 1886. This was an unparalleled attainment for an African American from the Jim Crow South. Cuney also worked tirelessly in the cause of African American economic advancement, and organized black dockworkers in South Texas to demand better pay and working conditions. To learn more about black dockworkers’ labor organizations, click this link: |
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