This collection consists of the personal papers and sermons of Rev. Elvis W. Spearman, who served as Florida A&M University's postmaster from 19 until his retirement in 1964, and as the FAMU hospital chaplain 1955 to 1964. Rev. Spearman earned an A.B. degree from lega College, and did additional study at FAMU, the University of Chicago, and Deering Community Center.
The materials in this collection were mainly speeches delivered by Rev. Spearman. Most of the speeches are undated. A small amount of materials were from Rev. Spearman's administrative duties at Florida A&M University.
Reverend Elvis Wardell SpearmanDr. James L. Hudson was born in 1904 in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from the institution in 1926. After graduating, he was ordained as a minister and then enrolled in Colgate-Rochester School of religion, where he camed a divinity degree in 1931. Afterwards, he worked as a chaplain at Leland College in Louisiana until 1946. Later he was carned a doctoral degree from Boston College. Following this, he accepted a position as a chaplain and professor at Florida A&M University (FAMU). At FAMU he created the institution's Department of Religion and Philosophy and served as its first departmental chairperson. In Tallahassee, Hudson was a close friend with another Morchouse graduate, Rev Charles K. Steele, pastor of the city's Bethel Baptist Church. The two religious leaders worked on numerous civil rights campaigns including the 1956 Tallahassee Bus Boycott.
Hudson was also president of the Tallahassee Ministerial Alliance, a co-founder and active member of the Inter-Civic Council. Even after retiring from FAMU in 1973, Rev. Hudson remained active in civil rights and social justice initiatives. He died in 1980.
This collection contains "Queen Like Me: The True Story of Girls Who Changed the World," a book by author, two-time FAMU alum, and former "Miss FAMU" pageant queen Dr. Kimberly Brown Pellum. It includes various copies of the publication and miscellaneous documents associated with it, such as children's worksheets.
According to https://www.childrensdefense.org/people/dr-kimberly-brown-pellum/, “Dr. Kimberly Brown Pellum is an assistant professor of history at Florida A&M University and founding director of MuseumofBlackBeauty.com, an interactive digital history initiative. She specializes in the history of 20th-century African American women, image-making, southern culture, and freedom. Her most recent book is Black Beauties: African American Pageant Queens in the Segregated South. Her contributions to publicly accessible history include work at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, The National Park Service, The Rosa Parks Museum, and Google’s Arts & Culture series.”
Kimberly BrownThe material of this collection is comprised of both archival records and museum memorabilia relating to the life and death of Jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. The material in this collection includes awards, books, correspondences, magazines, newspapers, pictures, programs, and artifacts.
Julian Adderley
Joseph “Joe” Lang Kershaw, Sr. was the first African American legislator elected to the Florida Legislature since Reconstruction. Born on June 27, 1911, in Live Oak, Florida, Kershaw was a 1930s Florida A&M University alumni who saw the beginning of football at the college, pledged Kappa Alpha Psi, and worked as a janitor inside the Florida Legislature. After working as a teacher in what is now known as Miami-Dade County, Kershaw was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1968 and served for 14 years. He also served as chairman of the Elections Committee, where his work led to the formation of the Florida Human Rights Commission. Kershaw died in Miami, Florida, at age 88 on November 7, 1999. The documents in this collection mostly pertain to aspects of his personal and academic life and his role as a legislator in the Florida House of Representatives. It also has documents about his father, A. J. Kershaw, and friends/colleagues like Gwendolyn Cherry and Althea Gibson.
Joseph "Joe" Lang Kershaw, Sr.The records in this collection consist of advertisements, books, magazines, newsclippings, newsletters, photographs, programs, and other publications such as theatrical playbills and posters.
Inclusive subjects and description of processing procedures provided by M. Dawson and L. Brown circa 1993.
Joe Nash
In 1975, James N. Eaton spearheaded the effort that ultimately gave rise to the creation of FAMU’s Black Archives. By 1976, the ‘Black Archives Research Center and Museum’ came into existence, and Eaton was recognized and appointed as its inaugural archivist, curator, and director.
For the next three decades, he helped amass a collection of memorabilia and printed records that now comprise one of the region’s most extensive collections of first-source material relating to the history, culture and contributions of people of African descent living in the United States.
James Eaton constructed in 1976 the first exhibits, using historical memorabilia from his own family. Afterward, he petitioned the university and community members to contribute historical material to the repository. Ilis call was answered by the first Black Archives donors and volunteers, who included: Donald Hill, Frank Pinder, John F. Matheus, and a host of other individuals and groups. Thus, the Research Center was chartered in 1976 and was officially opened in 1977.
James N. Eaton"Harper’s Magazine, the oldest general-interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation, through long-form narrative journalism and essays, and such celebrated features as the iconic Harper’s Index. With its emphasis on fine writing and original thought Harper’s provides readers with a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture. The essays, fiction, and reporting in the magazine’s pages come from promising new voices, as well as some of the most distinguished names in American letters, among them Annie Dillard, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jonathan Franzen, Mary Gaitskill, David Foster Wallace, and Tom Wolfe.
Harper’s Magazine made its debut in June 1850, the brainchild of the prominent New York book-publishing firm Harper & Brothers. The initial press run of 7,500 copies sold out immediately, and within six months circulation had reached 50,000."
The records in the Gilbert Porter Desegregation Files consist of Dade County school reports, and national school reports relating to integration and desegregation plans and procedures. There is also material on the Florida Conference of Social Welfare and the Florida Conference of Social Work. A large portion of the collection is newspaper clippings about race relations and integration in Dade County, and the State of Florida.
Inclusive subjects and descriptions of processing procedures provided by Kenneth D. Harris and M. Dawson circa 1999.
Gilbert Porter