Creating Community: Life and Learning at Alabama State University

3 / Genesis of the National Center forthe Study of Civil Rightsand African-American Culture

Martin L. King Jr., in his Address to the First Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, delivered at Montgomery’s Holt Street Baptist Church on December 5, 1955, following the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks, said, “Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say, ‘There lived a race of people, a black people, ®eecy locks and black complexion,’ a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. And thereby they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilization” (King Autobiography 61). Where had I heard this phrase, “®eecy locks and black complexion,” I wondered while reading this famous speech. Somewhere deep within, I remembered these words and their powerful, transforming, and inspiring meaning. The phrase surfaced from the recesses of my mind as I suddenly recalled William Cowper’s poem “The Negro’s Complaint,” written in 1788 as a lament on slavery: Fleecy locks and black complexion Cannot forfeit Nature’s claim; Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in black and white the same. As if it were a nursery rhyme, I heard these words ring in my ear each time my mother recited them during my childhood. These empowering 3 / Genesis of the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture Janice R. Franklin phrases rang out in family conversations as my parents encouraged us to excel in all of our pursuits, regardless of the color of our skin. After much re®ection, I clearly understood the reason that I had been driven to work for the advancement of a center for the study of civil rights and African American culture at a place most worthy—the historic campus of Alabama State University. Because of their ®eecy locks and black complexions, the students and faculty of Alabama State University were faced with discrimination that compelled them to join hands with the black community in Montgomery in an act of nonviolent protest for civil rights. With moral courage, they sacri¤ced their lives to stand up for justice during Montgomery’s infamous bus boycott, student sit-ins, and voting rights period of our history. It is a valiant story that should be chronicled in all historical accounts of these events in American history. For this reason, the quest to establish a center for repository and research that will embrace our history has become my own life’s mission while working as library director at Alabama State University. With passion, I work today to ensure that the stories of our civil rights heritage can be preserved, particularly those recording the role of Alabama State University, whose rich history as an early center for teacher education and as the intellectual hub for the modern civil rights movement is not widely known. Out of this historical and personal context, I accepted the calling to lead a project creating a center for the study of civil rights and African American culture. In August 1997 Dr. William H. Harris, then president of Alabama State University, convened a committee of staff, faculty, and administrators to plan such a center at Alabama State University, where much of the movement was conceived, and to determine the feasibility of building its endowment with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ prestigious Challenge Grant. The committee was united in its purpose to formalize the disparate historical library collections, people, activities, events, and multimedia materials on civil rights and African American culture that were available at ASU under the auspices of a center for research. This charge led to the university’s of¤cial designation of the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University and, in the year 2000, a $500,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment from the Humanities to build a two million 44 / Janice R. Franklin dollar endowment. ASU was one of only seven institutions that received this award in that year, and the grant review team at NEH was especially impressed with the urgency of the project, the importance of the existing collection, the critical need for preservation, and the plans for becoming a clearinghouse for cultural tourism. In the words of NEH Challenge Grant of¤cials, our university was viewed as an ideal location for a national center that would help preserve a vital part of our American heritage. At...