Grassroots Oral History: The Legacy of Robert Dawkins in Alexandria, Virginia and the Necessity for Stakeholder Driven Oral History Projects
Kerry Reed, The Alexandria Oral History Center
Michael Johnson, The Alexandria Oral History Center
This presentation will showcase the legacy of a grassroots, oral historian named Robert Dawkins from Alexandria, Virginia, and detail the methods and challenges of conducting an oral history initiative at a historic, black cemetery.
ABSTRACT: This past year in 2024 a celebrated and beloved public historian, Robert Dawkins, passed away in Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Dawkins relentlessly produced public history resources that drew upon his 300+ oral history collection about African Americans in Alexandria. Without his work and collection, much of the history about African Americans in Alexandria would not have been as widely shared or known. This presentation will reflect upon the legacy of Mr. Dawkins’ work as an oral historian, share his collection, and provide insight into how he approached oral history. Additionally, the presentation will delve into the challenges that community members, like Mr. Dawkins, face with powerholders when constructing alternative historical narratives and memories that highlight the trauma and experience of racial segregation and white supremacy in the South. The presentation will also highlight the latest public history project in Alexandria that was inspired by Mr. Dawkins’ work. This latest project is focused on interpreting and preserving the history of a historic black cemetery named Douglass Memorial Cemetery. Records suggest that over 2,000 people may have been buried in Douglass Memorial Cemetery; yet fewer than 700 grave markers are visible today. Some markers have fallen over or have sunk into the ground, but many burials may have been originally marked with only an impermanent wooden marker, or with no marker at all. While the cemetery is no longer managed or maintained, it has not been forgotten by the friends and families of those buried at the Cemetery.Due to the advocacy of Michael Johnson (a descendent of Douglass; a co-presenter for this presentation; and a mentee of Mr. Dawkins) and a descendent community group named the Friends of Douglass Cemetery, attention has finally been drawn back toward the Cemetery. Over the past year (2022-2023), a restoration project has commenced to physically restore the cemetery. Additionally, the Douglass Memorial Cemetery Oral History Project was launched early this year (2024) to document the individuals buried in Douglass Memorial Cemetery, celebrate and honor their lives, and support their descendants. Co-authored by Michael Johnson and Francesco De Salvatore (manager of the Alexandria Oral History Center), this presentation will grapple with the challenges and successes that have occurred during the initial stages of the Douglass Memorial Cemetery Oral History Project and how Mr. Dawkins’ work has influenced the process of this latest oral history project.Laboring in Obscurity: Louise Epperson and her Battle Against Urban Renewal
Katie Singer, Independent Scholar
This presentation tells the story of Louise Epperson through her oral history, an African-American woman who started the Committee Against Puerto Rican and Negro Removal in order to save her neighborhood from demolition. It is said to be one of the touchpoints of the 1967 rebellion in Newark, New Jersey.
ABSTRACT: In the book Making All Black Lives Matter, historian and activist Barbara Ransby writes, “While high-profile activists have emerged from Ferguson, and from the Black Lives Matter Movement…and have gained new levels of celebrity, most have labored in relative obscurity. It is the latter group whose stories are in some ways most revealing” (77).The story of Newark, New Jersey’s Louise Epperson, and her Committee Against Puerto Rican and Negro Removal, is certainly revealing. From occupational therapist to political agitator, Mrs. Epperson and her committee fought against the demolition of their neighborhood. And they won -- for the most part. This is a story that illustrates how everyday people can affect change; that women of color continue to receive unequal attention for their activist work; and that successful movements look many different ways. This research comes from my book which is due out from Rutgers University Press in August of 2024, entitled Alien Soil: Oral Histories of Great Migration Newark. Utilizing Louise Epperson’s interview, among others, from the Krueger-Scott Oral History Collection, in this presentation I will foreground an urban renewal battle that many suggest helped spur on Newark’s 1967 rebellion. It is a battle that could easily be taking place in most any city today. Beginning with a snapshot of some of my own recent activism, this piece then travels back to Newark 1967, illustrating the importance of knowing our history in order that we might do something about our present -- and also activate citizens for a better future. I hope to include some live readings of the selected transcripts as I am very interested in the art of oral interpretation and how it might be incorporated into oral history presentations.
Oral History through Creative Approaches: Cincinnati Opera Singer Nadine Roberts Waters
Clarity Amrein, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
This presentation explores methods and approaches to presenting and remediating oral histories through a creative lens, using a famous Black Cincinnati opera singer as a case study.
ABSTRACT: How can historians approach oral history collection when the subject has already passed away? Through my role at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, we discovered the detailed personal scrapbook of a famous Black Cincinnati opera singer from the 1910s and 20s, Nadine Roberts Waters, and chose to preserve it digitally. Through the scrapbook, we realized the prominence of this singer and the many places around the world that she had performed. We agreed that her story needed to be told in more depth. Nadine had since passed away, but artifacts of her life and legacy and people that knew her were still alive. Nadine's life was told through an oral history interview with a personal friend and mentee of the singer, as well as an interview with a prominent Cincinnati opera historian, who focuses on the experiences of women of color in opera, and provided context around her career as a Black women in the early 1900s. We felt that the research needed to go further to bridge the past, present, and future. We had the opportunity to gather an oral history from a current Black Cincinnati opera singer following a similar path, Noel Walton, whose mother was also a Black female opera singer who experienced many of the things that Nadine did in her time. These elements were used to create an oral history documentary that included artifacts from her scrapbook and most poignantly, a video of Noel singing one of Nadine's signature songs - in the very concert hall where she performed it 99 years ago. Through these various mediums, we were able to tell Nadine's rich story through historical context, videography, music, and spirituality – synthesizing past, present, and future to tell a holistic story about an experience not often heard about.
