storytelling | Genealogy Storytelling

Leonard Smith III will be presenting at The Whitney Plantation

June 24, 2016 By smith33

Leonard Smith III will be presenting at The Whitney Plantation Tuesday, July 19th, 2016 –Seating is limited! Check the link below for details Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, Inc.

Preregistration for our African American SIG Seminar on July 19th at The Whitney Plantation is now open. The seminar is free to members. Nonmembers should join prior to preregistration. Deadline for preregistration is July 5th. Seating is limited and preregistration is on a first come, first served basis. A flyer/preregistration form is available here: http://www.lecomite.org/docs/2016-african/aa_seminar-2016.pdf

The Life Story of Ms Yvonne Busch

November 30, 2015 By Leonard Smith

A Legend in the Classroom — Oct 29 1929 – Feb 28 2014

Yvonne Busch, who was a touring musician during her early teenage years but returned to New Orleans and became an influential music teacher in the public school system, died Friday at a relative’s home in Westwego. She was 84. Many of her music students in New Orleans schools would […]

To View On Demand the documentary for private use only click link below:
A Legend in the Classroom – The Life Story of Ms Yvonne Busch Documentary

Born in New Orleans in 1929 and raised in the historic Treme section of the city, Ms Yvonne Busch who mastered several brass instruments and the woodwinds, became a touring professional by the age of 12, crisscrossing the United States as a member of the critically acclaimed “International Sweethearts of Rhythm” and the “Swinging Rays of Rhythm” two all-female bands sponsored by the Piney Woods Country Life School, an historic African-American boarding school located in Piney Woods, Mississippi.

Ms. Busch provided the foundation for scores of New Orleans finest musicians, who excelled in careers in jazz, R&B and gospel, by teaching them the rudiments of music.

The Life Story of Ms Yvonne Busch documentary has won international recognition by winning the AVA Platinum Award, Hermes Gold Award and a Bronze Telly Award.

To View On Demand the documentary for private use only click link below:A Legend in the Classroom – The Life Story of Ms Yvonne Busch Documentary

Ken Burns delivers a Powerful 2015 Commencement address

May 19, 2015 By smith33

The complete addess by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns, a sobering call to action to the Washington University in St. Louis Class of 2015, delivered May 15, 2015

See full story on youtube.com

Life Was Hard in All-Black Towns After The Civil War

March 30, 2015 By smith33

This article by DeNeen L. Brown describes how many Blacks lived after the Civil War.

A few years after the Civil War ended, promoters determined to establish an all-black town on the Kansas frontier took out an ad in a Kentucky bulletin promising membership in The Largest Colored Colony in America for a small down payment: All Colored People that want to go to Kansas, on September 5th, 1877, Can do so for $5.00.

The bulletin explained those wanting to join this new colony, which would be called Nicodemus, can do so by paying the sum of one dollar ($1.00), and this money is to be paid by the first of September, 1877, in installments of twenty-five cents at a time, or otherwise as may be desired.

Hundreds of black people from Kentucky took up the call and set off for the new colony in Kansas, traveling with the promise of a new and better life. One of the settlers, Willianna Hickman, joined 300 people leaving Kentucky for Nicodemus in 1878. She and her family traveled for two days on a train before reaching Ellis, Kan. It was a difficult and treacherous journey.

See full story on washingtonpost.com

Annie Malone U.S. First Black Female Millionaire

February 3, 2015 By smith33

Annie Malone is recorded as the U.S.’s first black female millionaire. What a very interesting story not known by many.

In the 1920s, 30s and 40s, with the new freedom came business and financial
success for many women in Missouri. One of the nation’s wealthiest
African Americans was Annie Malone, founder and owner of
Poro College (watch video below), a cosmetics firm (view products below) that
started in St. Louis and later occupied an entire city block in Chicago.

Perhaps you have never heard of Annie before. If not, you’re in good company.
Most everyone reading this page has never heard of Annie.

And if you are in the African American hair care or cosmetics industry, Annie is
the “mother” of what you are doing. You are about to meet a remarkable woman…

PORO BEAUTY PRODUCTS — from Freeman Institute Black History Collection

To see the full story click this link freemaninstitute.com