Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Provided by Mary O.H. Williamson:

One phase of home room activity in the high school is the discussion of topics of the day. From one such discussion in the Cardozo High School, Washington D.C. this collection of material was started.

The lives and work of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Paul Laurence Dunbar are known to the average student, but only as vague, remote figures of the past. The though to me that in order to encourage and inspire in the students respect for their people it was necessary to guide them in the discovery of the many living around and about them who were working seriously along various avenues of aptitude; music, education, literature, business, etc., eventually to find a niche side by side with those who already had won fame.

Then the suggestion was made; "Let's keep our eyes and ears open for personalities who are doing worthwhile things, each in his or her particular line of work."

The idea took root, material began to come in, and the students suggested that in order to prevent loss, they mount the pictures and articles on card board. The first card board mounts were bought by students with pennies collected among themselves.

Interest grew; collection of materials increased, and the bulletin board in our room became a daily interest. When Negro History Week celebration came, our collection was hung on the walls of the Assembly Hall so that the student body might view it.

As the years passed, research became more and more fascinating and interesting - new avenues of information opened - friends rallied to the cause with contributions and suggestions - and I became convinced that a collection of this kind is worthy of preservation.

It now consists of three classifications -- 1. Mounted Pictures on Cardboard (10" x 15") 2. Pamphlet Files 3. Scrapbooks And so I have worked on through the years to keep intact the work begin by high school students, and to add to and preserve much material that cannot be found to-day in books, in the hopes that it will prove to be a source of reference and an inspiration to the youth in the years to come.

Collection of Mary O.H. Williamson

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