William Still (1821-1902) has been called an “unsung hero” of the Black Abolitionist movement. And while I believe that not too many people have heard of him, his speeches, delivered during the late 1850s and early 1860s, are some of the most eloquent I’ve read....
As part of Black History month, the focus of this week’s blog post is on journalist and abolitionist, Philip Alexander Bell (1808-1889). According to Blackpast.org (described on the site as an Online Reference Guide to African American History), we learn that Philip A. Bell was born in New York City and involved in early abolitionist politics in the Northeast. He “… attended Colored Citizens Conventions as early as 1830 and established his first newspaper, the Weekly Advocate, in 1837 after working for William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator.”...
When we think of archives, we tend to think of collections of documents, photographs, or records which have been permanently preserved for historical or research reasons. Out of the millions of pieces of material we human beings create yearly, only certain items are chosen to represent the value of an age or a group or an organization we wish to preserve. Someone must decide whether a grocery list jotted down on a napkin by a famous person will one day offer insight into that famous person’s life or the times in which he or she lived. This is heady stuff and not taken lightly by archivists....
Christmas celebrations in the late 1800s weren’t anything like they are today. The focus was on church activities, caroling, and the warm gathering of family and friends. Gifts were secondary to the celebration of this holy season, and giving was more about caring than buying expensive presents. For those whose very existence depended on the kindness of strangers, support from charity and provisions for the poor were appreciated more than ever to help them through the harsh winters and desperate times....
This month, we introduce a new section of our Special Collections page where users can easily locate the call numbers and location of any of these print theses by searching through an easy to use digital bibliography of these print theses. Searches can be made by author, degree, program, year, or title. It’s really worth a look, even if you aren’t doing research....
In June, 1907, a special edition of the Tamarack called The Young Tamarack was issued. According to an editorial published in this edition, there were two reasons for this … both relating to athletics. The first reason was the formation of the Athletics Association, which, the writer tells us, would help finance the Athletics program at the university. An association of this type would also help establish some by-laws for participation in the various sports available at the University of Detroit at that time....
In March, 1775, when Edmund Burke addressed the English House of Commons, the affairs in America had reached a crisis point. Attempts to keep the Colonies under control were failing, and failing in a big way. Burke decided to offer a plan to resolve the growing discontent in the Colonies in a way he hoped would be fair to all concerned. His objective was to maintain peace by offering concessions, and it would take quite a sales job to get...
Among the hundreds of editorials and speeches housed in the Black Abolitionist archive are several audio interpretations recorded by volunteers. These audio recordings offer a unique perspective on the published work of those who worked so hard for freedom for the enslaved men, women, and children during the almost 300 year history of slavery in this country. Most of these names are lost to history, only the more influential of these abolitionists are included in our history books. The Black Abolitionist Archive in our digital special collections, hopes to change that by introducing visitors to this important collection to those whose lives made an important historical difference to the way this country understands what it means to be free. ...
When Herman J. Muller, S. J. left this world in 2007, at the age of 98, he had been a devoted and much admired Jesuit priest for over 65 years. He left a distinguished legacy which included a devotion to history, teaching, student development, and the Detroit Titans Athletic teams. It was this devotion that urged him to write what has become the official history of the University of Detroit since 1877, and we are proud to include his work in our digital archives....
In an editorial published in the the Weekly Anglo-African newspaper on March 9, 1861, there’s a review of a recent book (titled, American slavery distinguished from the slavery of English theorists, and justified by the law of nature) on the defining of slavery and of slaves as human beings. The writer of this article compares this recent publication with another book published by John H. Van Evrie (another pro-slavery writer) about the same time. The focus is on the question of whether a slave owner has the right to take the life of a slave when he chooses. And this question comes down to the definition of slavery itself....
