The Bell Index

Items

• Introduction of Augusta Savage and Overview
  Augusta Savage was born on February 29, 1892 in Florida and died in March of 1962. She later moved to New York. Savage was an African American woman, art teacher and advocate for African Americans in the arts. She was an artist herself, specifically a ceramicist, and began her career as a teen, teaching sculpting in high school. She then went on to attend Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She was up against 142 male applicants and was still accepted, and then graduated a year early. Other notable life accomplishments include opening her own studio, Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts, in 1934, which later became the Harlem Community Art Center. Now that we are in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, we see a big difference between Savage and Davidson. Savage seemed to be more accepted and seen as more than just a woman who only fulfilled “womanly” duties, unlike Davidson. Savage was also an artist, educator, and activist. Her work was documented and validated many times, such as when she was still accepted to college when her overwhelmingly large number of male competitors were also a factor, as well as when she created her own studio that did so well that it became the Harlem Community Art Center.
• Introduction of Olivia Davidson
  Olivia Davidson was born June 11, 1854 and died on May 9, 1889. She was an African American teacher and wife to Booker T. Washington. She graduated from the Framingham State Normal School and became a teacher. Additionally, she founded the Tuskegee Normal School with her husband as well. However, after all of her life accomplishments, when she died, the only thing inscribed on her gravestone commemorating her was “wife of Booker T. Washington”. Not “teacher”, “student”, “educator”, or even “advocate”. Davidson’s life consisted of much more than just being Washington’s wife. However, this time period is before the Harlem Renaissance. Many people did not see African American women as much more than mothers and wives that fulfilled domestic duties. This sets the stage, in a way, for all female African American educators who came after her. These artifacts show that while women were not particularly valued or seen for more than the domestic roles of “mother” and “wife”, that women, African American women in particular, were still slowly but surely advancing in society.
• MaRainey
  A picture of Gertrude "MaRainey" Pridgett from the 1920s. She was an American Blues singer known as the "Mother of Blues" and she influenced many new early blues recording artists.
• One Act Play Magazine
  Plays by: Langston Hughes, N.K Smith, Felix Fair, Jean Jacques Bernard, and J. Niggli
• One Act Play Magazine
  Plays by: Langston Hughes, N.K Smith, Felix Fair, Jean Jacques Bernard, and J. Niggli
• One Act Play Magazine
  Plays by: Langston Hughes, N.K Smith, Felix Fair, Jean Jacques Bernard, and J. Niggli
• Sculpture "Realization"
  Augusta Savage, artist and teacher, with her sculpture "Realization", 1938
• "The Wedding Blues"
  An advertisement for the American comedy/short film "Wedding Blues"
• The Pre-Hampton Years of Olivia Davidson by Carolyn A. Dorsey, published in the Hampton Review: A Journal of Critical Thought and Research in the Arts and the Social Sciences, Volume XIV, Number One, Fall 1988
  stuff for Brinkmans class
• Ethel Waters on Black Swan Advertisement
  Ethel Waters on Black Swan Records Advertisement
• Harry Pace
  Photo of Harry Pace the first Black man to start and own a record label in America
• Left All Alone Again Blues: Music Sheet
  From the Broadway musical "The Night Boat"
• Test
• Olivia Davidson Gravestone
  This depicts the gravestone of Olivia Davidson. It written on there that she was the wife of Booker T. Washington, her birth and death date, as well as the Framingham Normal School motto, "live to the truth".
• Langston Hughes Syllabus
  Langston Hughes Syllabus
• One Act Play Magazine
  Plays by: Langston Hughes, N.K Smith, Felix Fair, Jean Jacques Bernard, and J. Niggli
• Obituary of Olivia Davidson, 1889
  This is the obituary of Olivia Davidson. She died on May 9, 1889. It contains a short description of her life and what she accomplished. She graduated from the Framingham State Normal School, became a teacher in Tennessee, and started the Tuskegee Normal School with her husband, Booker T. Washington.
• Fire: Devoted to younger negro artists (Reprint)
  This is a Reprint of the original issue of fire being (Vol. 1) and this showcases many different authors, poets, and artists. Some Big names are Charles S. Johnson, Countee P. Cullen, Aaron Douglas, Helene Johnson, Richard Bruce, Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, Waring Cuney, Arna Bontemps, Edward Silvera, Langston Hughes, and more Ect.
• Letter from Olivia Davidson to Mary Jewett, 1881
  In this letter, Davidson reveals she is working with her husband, the principal, at Tuskegee Normal School in Alabama. She writes to her friend from the same graduating class as her only 3 months later, detailing how the schools' students are below grade level and they have very little funding.
• The History of Black Swan Records
  The first African American owned and operated Record label in Harlem and in the USA
• Blues Fantasy
  The poem "Blues Fantasy" by Langston Hughes
• [Untitled]
• The Shroud of Color
  Poem
• Fuller in her attic studio
• [Untitled]