Glad Tidings 2012 -- Updates and Themes

Glad tidings for researchers! Our web presence is growing, with the online appearance of the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers finding aid, as well as with initial digital content in the CONTENTdm Digital Collections.  Over time, most of the digitized items will be linked from the finding aid to the digital collections website. Wherever a green arrow is seen in the finding aid (like the one highlighted in the following image), clicking through will arrive at material in the digital collections. Green arrows that indicate the presence of digital content are also found within the body of the finding aid, but the initial arrow at the top allows the researcher to view all the linked digital content from the top of the finding aid without having to scroll through and find it.

 

Clicking through from the green arrow at the top of the finding aid to the item “The Christmas Message” will take the researcher to an editorial by Reverend Black, in which he expresses his thoughts on the spirit of Christmas, and how it is usually not found in commercial greeting cards. Here is the direct link to that editorial:
The Christmas Message, by Reverend Black, 1963

Regarding the spirit of Christmas, commercialism, and greeting cards, the collection also includes some ephemera directly related to this topic – African American Christmas cards, specifically, “The Christmas Soul” assortment, “18 Golden Trimmed Christmas Cards With Soul Sentiments.”

The cards were manufactured by a company called Merchant Prince, started by Berkeley G. Burrell, a businessman and advocate for minority enterprises, who was active in private and government-appointed positions.

In an article in Jet Magazine entitled "Greeting Card Firm to Pass $1 Million in Sales" (December 3, 1970, p.24), Mr. Burrell states that he started his business because the greeting card industry “has neglected the Black market and today’s strongly emerging attitude of self-pride and self-identification among Blacks.”  The cards in this set contain images such as a Black Mary and infant Jesus; Black three kings looking toward the star of the East; and, a Black drummer boy, among other depictions. The interior sentiments are predominantly religious, with wishes for peace. love and brotherhood.

Here's to many wishes for a happy holiday season, and for a productive new year, filled with digital content from the Claude and ZerNona Black Papers! 

-- Donna Morales Guerra, Project Archivist