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Mrs. Inez Moore Parker, an English professor,
and Mr. Henry B. Blue established a Black Cultural Center on the
campus of Johnson C. Smith University in the summer of 1975. The
purpose of the Black Cultural Center was to expose Johnson C.
Smith University’s students, faculty, and staff to works by and
about African Americans. |
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Mrs. Parker also became interested in
recording the history of Johnson C. Smith University. She began
her research by seeking documents and photographs covering the
history of the university. Through her research, Mrs. Parker
discovered that the university’s records created prior to 1900
had been destroyed in several fires. She successfully attempted
to obtain materials for the collection by contacting people
associated with the university, such as trustees and staff
members. Mrs. Parker used the materials she collected to write a
book, The Biddle-Johnson C. Smith University Story, which
was published in 1975.
Mrs. Parker’s second book, The Rise and Decline of the
Program of Education for Black Presbyterians by the Presbyterian
Church, USA, added new materials to the collection on the
Presbyterian Church, Parochial Schools, and the Black
Presbyterians. On November 4, 1977, the Inez Moore Parker
Archives and Research Center was dedicated in honor of Mrs.
Parker’s work to preserve the history of the African American
experience and the history of the university. This day marked
the official establishment of an archives for the specific
purpose of organizing and preserving the historical records and
materials of Johnson C. Smith University.
Today, the archives contains
manuscripts,
journals, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, and artifacts.
The collection includes a tea set dated 1859 that belonged to
Dr. Stephen Mattoon, the first President of Johnson C. Smith
University, a chair built for President William Howard Taft when
he visited the university in 1909, and a 1923 Biddle University
Varsity Sweater.
The archives also has a Black Heritage Room
with a small collection of rare books, autographed books,
manuscripts, and books written by and about Africans and African
Americans. |
Archives Highlights:
·
President Mattoon's
Silver Tea Set - 1859
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“Africo-American
Presbyterian” publication. Published and edited by JCSU’s first
African American president, Dr. Daniel Jackson Sanders. - 1889, 1907
·
Speeches and
documents written by Dr. Henry Lawrence McCrorey - 1907 to 1940.
·
The Argus,
first student newspaper - 1908
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U.S. President
William H. Taft's chair built by faculty for his campus visit -
1909
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Biddle University
varsity sweater - 1923
·
First Bull Annual
(Yearbook) - 1928
·
Alumni and Faculty
publications: Plays and choral readings by Darius
Leander Swann -
1953-1963; “The Bible and the Human Quest” by Dr.
Algernon O.
Steele - 1956; “The Negro in New York” by Dr. James E. Allen - 1964
The
archives is heavily used by researchers, faculty, students, and
alumni throughout North Carolina and across the U.S. |
