Blog Post
Idlewild
by amy
According to Sunday's Ann Arbor News, Idlewild, the new film opening this week, is named after the famous Lake County Michigan resort, otherwise known as the Black Eden of Michigan in the 1920s and '30s and the Summer Apollo of Michigan in the 1950s and '60s. Idlewild, Michigan, hosted great jazz acts in its day, including Duke Ellington, and was the vacation spot of choice for such black luminaries as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Even W.E.B. Du Bois owned a home there. But the film itself is set in Georgia and its "Idlewild" is a small-town speakeasy. It does take place during the same period and features the music of OutKast (a bit of a historical stretch, but oh well). So far, reviews are mixed but Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gives it an A-.
You can read more about the real Idlewild in Idlewild: the Black Eden of Michigan by Ronald J. Stephens.
Blog Post
Barry Harris: The Spirit of Bebop
by kcrj49
Monday, June 5, 7:00-8:30 pm Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room
Come see this fascinating documentary of jazz innovator Barry Harris. This film, by Edgar Howard, also pays homage to jazz luminaries like Parker, Monk, Bud Powell and Dizzy Gillespie. Jazz scholar Lars Bjorn will introduce this 55 minute film and lead a discussion afterwards.
Blog Post
Hold the Flag High by Catherine Clinton
by Tahira
William H. Carney is an officer of the first all African-American regiment of the Civil War. Carney’s determination not to allow the flag to touch the ground inspired his men to move forward into battle. Catherine Clinton gives an historical account of the first African American who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Blog Post
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
by Employee 37
AADL Select Sites:African Americans
Officially incorporated as a Research Library of the New York Public Library in 1972, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture offers several online collections with a focus on primary documents for those scholars of African American history. In Motion: The African American Migration Experience documents 400 years of migrations to, within, and out of the United States; providing extensive commentary as well as primary texts, photographs, maps, and other documents in a searchable, thematically arranged collection. Digital Schomburg contains several databases on the African American experience; such as African American Women Writers of the 19th Century which presents full copies of 52 published works.