NO DREAMS DEFERRED:

AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE KANSAS REGION

An exhibition from the resources of the Kansas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries, January 18 - March 31, 2000

TO OVERCOME oppressive conditions of chattel slavery and racial segregation, African Americans developed a tradition of leadership that fostered the virtues of self-help and collective responsibility. Accomplished men and women of African descent forged ways of mobilizing resources within their African American communities and cultivating support from the nation’s larger society to eliminate barriers of racial exclusion and discrimination. Motivated by the nation’s creed of freedom and equality, these leaders enabled generations of African Americans to experience social, economic and political progress.

IN KANSAS, African American leaders brought together their religious faith, value of formal education, and commitment to improving community life to build an avenue of progress. From the African American church, they acquired spiritual and moral strength, along with a wealth of organizational skills and talents. As parents and teachers, they reinforced the high priority African Americans have always placed on formal education as a means of achievement. And, through community activism, they sought social and economic justice. Under this tradition of leadership, dreams were not allowed to "dry up like a raisin in the sun," but were nourished to "attend the needs of all mankind."

Examples of the Kansas tradition of African American leadership are featured in this exhibition. Funded in part by the Dana K. and Sue Anderson Kansas Collection Endowment Fund.

Emma Ellene Cooper (1889-1972) 

Evelyn Harper  (1913-1992)

Elmer C. Jackson  (1912-1999)

Samuel C. Jackson (1929-1982)

The Reverend Billy J. Johnson   (1929-1990)

Herman T. Jones  (1906-1983)

Chester I. Lewis (1929-1990)

Ethel May Moore  (1889-1983)

Mildred Reid Mounger   (1916-1996)

Bishop William T. Vernon   (1871-1944)

Emily Embry Vernon   (1876-1944)

THE KANSAS COLLECTION is involved in an ongoing effort to locate, identify, and acquire materials such as letters, diaries, speeches, scrapbooks, photographs, and organizational, business, religious, and educational records that document the experiences of African Americans in Kansas and the region. These efforts will help to ensure that the contributions of the African American community will be preserved for future research. We need your help in further documenting the contributions of African Americans to the social, economic and political life of the state and the region before the records are lost to the ravages of time. If you have materials that you would like to have preserved in the Kansas Collection, or know of the location of papers or photographs that you think would be of interest, please let us know. An archivist is available to visit, examine the materials, advise as to their historical content, and pack and transfer the materials to the Kansas Collection.

For further information or to set up an appointment please contact Sherry Williams, Curator (swilliam@ku.edu) or Deborah Dandridge, Archivist (ddandrid@ku.edu), (785) 864-4334.

The Kansas Collection

Kenneth Spencer Research Library

University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence, KS 66045

Copyright Notice:  Original photographs from which the digital images on this Web site have been derived may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S. Code).  All digital images are watermarked.  You may use the digital images and information found on this Web site of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library for your private study, scholarship or research.  If you wish to publish or reproduce the materials in any physical or digital form or use them for any commercial purpose, including display or Web page use, you must obtain prior written permission from the Kansas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries.   Please contact the Kansas Collection by calling (785) 864-4334.

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