AfAm. African-Americans

Abstract Graduates of Wilberforce University, Rev. Wesley Matthews and his wife, Ruth "Pat" Matthews, were active in civil rights, church work, and community organizing in the Dayton, Yellow Springs, and Urbana, Ohio areas. After Rev. Matthews died in 1978, Pat Matthews remarried Wendell Howard, a Springfield pharmacist. Papers in this collection include business and personal correspondence from both families, records from a depression-era WPA education program in Clark County, family photographs, a...

Abstract

The Charles M. Austin Collection documents the results of Mr. Austin's extensive research on African-American history in the Miami Valley, and particularly in Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio. His papers include recorded speeches, interviews and articles.

Abstract The Dayton Urban League was chartered in 1947. In conjunction with a nation-wide League Network, the Dayton Urban League made an important contribution to the general welfare of the local community through its services to African-Americans in Dayton. The League attempted to improve employment opportunities, accelerate guidance programs for young people, initiate greater participation of Blacks in the activities of other welfare agencies and civic organizations, and to improve the climate of...

Abstract The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) was established in 1949 in order to provide dance education among Dayton's urban youth. Since that time, DCDC has grown to become a prestigious, internationally recognized minority dance company, which is committed to preserving and performing classic and contemporary works by great African American choreographers. The collection consists of administrative files, financial records, performance records, personnel files, programs, publicity...

Abstract

The collection contains personal papers, legal documents and court proceedings, photographs, audio and video recordings, news clippings, awards and certificates, correspondence, and other materials relating to Dr. Thomas’s life and career in education and civil rights activism. The collection includes a significant amount of analog audiovisual material, including recordings of most episodes of Thomas’s interview program “Like It Is.”

Abstract

The Dayton Unit of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1915, six years after the national organization was established in 1909. The collection includes brief summary histories of the organization, annual reports, program books from the annual Freedom Fund Banquet, and newspaper articles.

Abstract

Neal Loving, recognized as one of the "African American Pioneers in Aviation", was a renowned airplane designer and an aerospace engineer at the Flight Dynamics Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Dayton, Ohio. The collection contains papers, photographs, and blueprints of Loving's designs, including his WR-1 midget racer named "Loving's Love".

Abstract The James Howell McGee Papers contain materials which document his life and his dedication to community development and civil rights. As an African American politician and the first black mayor of Dayton, his political contributions to civil rights during the 1960s and 1970s are of major importance. In addition to the political documents, this collection contains speeches and records of his involvement with civil rights and social organizations. This collection also preserved documentation...

Abstract

This collection documents Dayton politics and race relations as reflected in the life and career of Don Crawford. The collection includes newspaper clippings, magazine articles, scrapbooks, correspondence, speech notes and publicity, photographs, certificates, and campaign literature. Most items are by or about Don L. Crawford, Jr., one of Dayton's best-known African American leaders of the 1960s-1980s.

Abstract

This collection consists of correspondence, schedules, notebooks, and business and financial records from Jeraldyne Blunden the founder of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and the creator of Jeraldyne's School of the Dance. There are also personal papers in the collection such as family reunion and wedding materials, insurance information and awards. Also included are scrapbook photos taken for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Tour from 1962-1972.