Building African-American heritage resources

Art gallery owner Robert A. Powell and author/newsman Julius Hunter often serve as local spokespersons on trends in the field of African-American arts-from fine arts to fine writing.

Robert A. Powell

Both will be featured in Black History Month programs sponsored during February by the St. Louis Public Library and the St. Louis County Library.

They also are involved in continuing efforts to build new research resources to explore facets of our African-American heritage. Many of those efforts are of special use for younger kids in the metro area.

 

(The St. Louis Public Library and the St. Louis County Library have scheduled a variety of Black History Month programming at the headquarters and branch libraries in both the city and county.

(To check on Black History events and programs at your local library branch click on www.slpl.org for the city and www.slcl.org in the county. Most programs have free admission and are suitable for kids and their families.)

Mr. Powell is the founder and executive director for Portfolio Gallery and Education Center in St. Louis. The 18-year-old gallery seeks to generate a greater awareness of art by African-Americans.

Powell demonstrates African-American art at the county library's Kickoff Event for Black History Month

He was the curator of an expansive display of African-American art at the county library's Kickoff Event for Black History Month. That kickoff was held Friday, Jan. 23, at the county library's headquarters.

Mr. Powell also is involved in a new research project now underway at the St. Louis Public Library. The MyTRACS program will produce a new research resource for young people who want to develop creative writing projects.

Mr. Powell headed up a team that developed a new logo for the MyTRACS program.

(You can get some insight into MyTRACS by visiting http://mytracs.slpl.org. The grand opening of MyTRACS will be showcased later this year. It is being developed by 22 teams of local youth under a grant from the Missouri Library Assn.)

Julius Hunter

Mr. Hunter is the author-in-residence for the St. Louis County library. He is scheduled to be the headliner for a "Finding Your Roots" program at the county library's headquarters on Saturday, Feb. 16, starting at 10 a.m.

The former TV anchorman and book author was to give tips and methods for researching family history projects. He will stress the resources available in genealogical resources available in libraries.

Both Mr. Powell and Mr. Hunter conduct lessons at schools and agencies on both sides of the Mississippi River within the metro area.

Among other Black History programs at city library branches are a series of African-American Read-Ins. These explore African-American poets, authors and illustrators.

Also, the Afriky Lolo African Dance and Drummers group will perform at various city library branches. (For dates and times, check your local city branch library.)

The county branch libraries also have a variety of other Black History programs.

A series of Movie Nights will be at the county headquarters on Wednesdays, Feb. 6, 13 and 20. Movies to be shown are "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," "A Raisin in the Sun" and "Akeelah and the Bee."

Master storyteller Blake Travis is scheduled to entertain at 17 different county libraries. His stories are around the theme, "Stories from the World Village."

Also musician Zimbabwe Nkenya is scheduled for solo musical workshops concerning traditional African instruments. He is scheduled for five library branch appearances.

Storytellers Bobby Norfolk, Angela Williams, Sylvia Bailey-Smalls, Carole Shelton and Brother John also are scheduled are a variety of locations. (For dates and times, check with your local county branch library.)

A-A spokesmen Powell and Hunter like to urge young St. Louisans to learn more about the rich historical heritage of St. Louis. Despite the interior location of St. Louis, the area has a long and varied history.

Unlike some other parts of the country, early settlers were from a variety of countries. At one time, the English, French and Spanish shared leadership. While east-west travel was difficult, the north-south flow of people was free because of river travel.

In the area of African-American heritage, that same north-south flow of people was also prominent. First, there were the slaves. Then, after the Civil War, there was the outflow of blacks from the South to northern cities, including St. Louis.

Within the metro area, there have been significant ethnic and racial shifts in population at different times. One interesting heritage study could be "Who lived in my neighborhood at different times in St. Louis history?"