by datdudejbal | Oct 18, 2012 | Rosenwald Fund
A couple weeks ago, a new exhibit featuring 47 works by the great painter and print-maker Charles White went on display at the Art Museum on North Carolina Central University campus.
White was a native Chicagoan who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduation, he joined the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration, and produced one of the WPA’s best known murals entitled “Five Great American Negroes.” The mural, which features Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver and Marian Anderson was originally installed in the George Cleveland Hall Library on Michigan Boulevard in Chicago. This historic library is located just one block from the Rosenwald Apartments and was built on land donated by Julius Rosenwald to the Chicago Public Library. Today, the mural resides in the Law Library at Howard University.
“Five Great American Negroes,” by Charles White
Photo credit: Federal Arts Project of Works Progress Administration
Shortly after completing “Five Great American Negroes,” in 1942 and 1943, White received consecutive Rosenwald grants that allowed him to travel the south and study art. Around the same time, White married another Rosenwald fellow Elizabeth Catlett.
Admission to the museum is free and the exhibit will be on display until December 21st.
By Michael Rose
by datdudejbal | Oct 18, 2012 | Rosenwald Fund
We were reminded of Julius Rosenwald last week while reading the obituary of Mervyn M. Dymally in The Washington Post.
“Mervyn Malcolm Dymally was born May 12, 1926, in Cedros, Trinidad, West Indies. He once told the Los Angeles Sentinel that he had been drifting toward a life as a ne’er-do-well when a book he found about Booker T. Washington, the influential African American writer and orator, inspired him to come to the United States, at age 19, for his education.”
(Mervyn M. Dymally obituary, The Washington Post, October 8th, 2012)
It was a similarly transformative moment in Rosenwald’s life when he read Booker T. Washington’s autobiograhy Up from Slavery in 1910. Like Mr. Dymally, Washington’s inspiring life story encouraged Rosenwald to devote his life to public service.
By Michael Rose
by datdudejbal | Oct 12, 2012 | Rosenwald Fund
Aviva Kempner will be on hand on October 25th to introduce the work in progress version of The Rosenwald Schools at the University of North Carolina’s Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History in Chapel Hill. North Carolina was the state that built the most Rosenwald schools. The event is free and open to the public and is part of the Diaspora Festival of Black and Independent Film, which highlights interesting films and provides a venue for discussion and debate.
The Sonja Haynes Stone Center is generously sponsoring this event and you can read more about the screening at their website. Many thanks to Clarissa Goodlett at the Stone Center for promoting this event.
Correction, 10/15/2012: This blog has been amended to more accurately list the event sponsor. We regret the error.
by datdudejbal | May 25, 2012 | Rosenwald Fund
Documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner will discuss her work making films about American Jews in a public conversation with University of Pennsylvania Professor Beth Wenger. Kempner will reflect on her choices of subjects and the ways that she uses historical sources in her films. She will also preview her current film-in-progress on the Rosenwald Schools. This film explores the life and work of Julius Rosenwald, the son of German-Jewish immigrants who became president and chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Co, focusing particularly on his effort to create more than 5,000 schools for poor, rural African-American children in the South.
Aviva Kempner’s films include The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg and Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg. Her films investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history, focusing on lesser-known stories of Jewish heroes. She founded the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1989 and writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The Forward, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post.
Admission: $15 general; $10 AJHS, CJH members, seniors, students
Click here to purchase tickets.
by datdudejbal | May 22, 2012 | Rosenwald Fund
Last Wednesday, May 16th, Aviva Kempner spoke at a luncheon for the Brandeis National Committee at the Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, MD. Ms. Kempner showed the work in progress version of The Rosenwald Schools and addressed the audience about making films about Jewish heroes.
Photo credit: Leah Jaffee
To book this film, contact Blair (blairs@brandeis.edu) at the National Center for Jewish Film. To contact Aviva Kempner about speaking engagements, please email cieslafdn@gmail.com. Stay tuned to this blog for updates on future screenings.
Recent Comments