Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy.
Subheader: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex.
Josephine Baker Inducted into Missouri House of Government’s Hall of Fame
Josephine Baker was an international star and human rights activist known for her sultry vocals and distinct improvisational dance style. Born in the slums of St. Louis, she discovered her ticket out of a life of poverty through song and dance. Because of her strong views against racial discrimination, she left this country for France to launch an entertainment career which spanned five decades. Deeply involved in the civil rights movement, she was instrumental in prompting nightclubs and theaters to integrate their audiences by her refusal to perform unless nondiscriminatory seating practices were followed. One of the highlights of her life was taking part in the 1963 Freedom March in Washington, D.C., and delivering a speech beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial. Four days before her death, on April 8, 1975, she opened a new revue in Paris and after a 15-minute ovation stated, “Now I can die.”
Tags: activism, Civil Rights, hall of fame, josephine baker, missouri, st. louis
10 Feb 08 | Josephine Baker (Freda McDonald) Native of St. Louis, Missouri
JOSEPHINE BAKER
Baker, Josephine (1906 – 1975)
Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She left school early for the stage, and was performing professiona
lly at the age of 13. Her life roles included a chanteuse, dancer, freedom fighter, and mother.She performed on Broadway in 1922 (“Shuffle Along”) and was a star by 1924 (“Chocolate Dandies”).
In 1925 she went to Paris, and became famous for her performances in the Revue Negre on the stage of the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. Even critics who gave the show negative reviews thought highly of Baker’s performance.
Josephine Baker, whose sensual antics took Paris by storm, had nicknames such as “Black Venus,” “Black Pearl” and “Creole Goddess.”
She performed in the Folies Bergere, and during the 1926-27 season she was doing her popular Banana Dance. Finding more acceptance as a “colored” performer in France then she had in the United States, she stayed in Paris. 
Baker also sang. In July, 1930 she recorded 6 songs for Columbia records. It was noted that while she never suffered from stage fright when performing before an audience, if the technicians became too engrossed in their work to respond to her she froze.
Baker is considered to be one of the most sensual performers of all times. She inspired artwork by Alexander Calder and Georges Rouault. Writers, including ee cummings and Ernest Hemingway, also found her work inspiring.
She served with the French Red Cross during WWII. With the fall of France in 1940 she became active in the resistance movement. Using her career as a cover she became an intelligence agent. In 1961 she received the Legion d’Honneur for her efforts from Charles deGaulle.
Baker’s celebrity allowed her to travel much more freely then most people during that time period. She once carried military intelligence reports out of France to Portugal, written in invisible ink on her sheet music. She also used her charm to persuade foreign consulates to process visas for associates, some of who traveled with her as a cover.
She was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and received a Medal of the Resistance in 1946.
Her resistance activities were curtailed by a serious illness for which she was hospitalized in the Mers Sultan Clinic in Casablanca from June 1941 until December 1942.
She married 4 times, and adopted 12 children of different races … her “Rainbow Tribe”.
Her family: Josephine Baker’s mother was Carrie McDonald and her father was Eddie Carson. Arthur Martin was her stepfather. Her siblings were Richard, Margaret and Willie Mae. Josephine’s first husband was Willie Wells; her second husband was Willie Baker; her third husband was Jean Lion; and, her fourth husband was orchestra leader Jo Bouillon. Her twelve adopted children were: Akio (male), Janot (male), Luis (male), Jari (male), Jean-Claude (male), Moise (male), Brahim (male), Marianne (female), Koffi (male), Mara (male), Noel (male), Stellina (female). Josephine’s last marriage was to American Artist Robert Brady.
She often combined performance with civil rights activism, refusing to perform in clubs that would not permit an integrated audience. Her performances, which usually included songs in a number of languages, can be viewed as an extension of her personal philosophy and belief in racial harmony.
The week before her death in 1975 she appeared on the stage in a tribute performance, still very much a captivating performer at 69. She died quietly, in her sleep, of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Tags: activism, Civil Rights, josephine baker, missouri, st. louis
Arvarh E. Strickland Is Honored with the Naming of A Building in His Honor at MU
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Teaching history was Arvarh E. Strickland’s passion. Making history – particularly at the University of Missouri-Columbia – became his reality. Today, school administrators and state education leaders celebrated the accomplishments of MU’s first African-American professor by naming an academic building in his honor.
The former General Classroom Building (GCB), located in front of the Brady Commons Mall, is now Arvarh E. Strickland Hall – the first building on campus named for an African American. Humbled by the occasion, Strickland said the recognition is the result of pursuing his life-long passion – teaching students.
“As far as I was concerned, I was doing what I was here to do – that was to teach and add to our historical knowledge and understanding,” he said. “I was simply trying to get historical knowledge to my students.”
Strickland arrived at MU in 1969 as a full tenured professor of history in the College of Arts and Science. In addition to teaching, he helped create the Black Studies Program, for which he twice served as interim director. He also served as associate vice president of academic affairs and as a special assistant to the chancellor. After 26 years, Strickland retired in ‘95 and was honored with an endowed professorship.
Among his fondest memories are the students. Although he arrived during a time of racial tension in the United States, Strickland said he was well received by the students.
“The students are what made it a good place. I came at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the students at Missouri, like in other places, thought they could make the world a better place,” Strickland said. “They were a joy to teach.”
The initiative to make Strickland Hall a reality was approved by the Curators of the University of Missouri in April. Numerous student organizations, including the Missouri Students Association (MSA), Residence Halls Association and Legion of Black Collegians, led the effort. Strickland said that he’s most proud of the fact that students started the campaign to have a campus building named in his honor.
“They wanted something tangible to symbolize the presence of African Americans on campus. I think of myself really as being symbolic of that purpose,” he said. “I’m a symbol of something a bit larger than anything I’ve accomplished.”
Achievements by Strickland have been widely recognized at MU. A room in Memorial Union also is named after him. During his tenure, Strickland received MU’s William H. Byler Distinguished Professor Award, the Mizzou Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award and service awards from the State Historical Society of Missouri and Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society in history. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Carter G. Woodson Medal from the Association for the Study of African-American History and Culture.
Oct. 19, 2007
Story Contact: Bryan C. Daniels, (573) 882-9144
Tags: african american, board of curators, carter g woodson, Civil Rights, Columbia, Education, history, legion of black collegians, missouri, MU, teaching, university of missouri
Marian O’Fallon Oldham
Marian O’Fallon Oldham was rejected from attending the University of Missouri because she was Black. It did not stop her as she instead attended Harris-Stowe in St. Louis. She later got her master’s from the University of Michigan. She then became a teacher and counselor in St. Louis Public Schools, a civil rights activist and a member of various charitable boards in St. Louis. In 1977, Oldham became the University of Missouri’s first Black female curator, and she served for eight years. The university’s St. Louis campus later gave her an honorary doctorate and set up a scholarship in her name. She died in 1994 at 66.
Today, the University of Missouri has named the Mu’s Black Culture system in her owner and that of Lloyd Gaines who was also denied admission for being Black. The center is names the Lloyd Gaines-Oldham Black Culture Center.
Tags: black, black culture center, marian o'fallon oldham, scholarship, st. louis public schools, teacher, university of missouri
Malaika Horne Resolution Passed by University of Missouri Board of Curators, 2003
Malaika Horne is director of the Executive Leadership Institute – College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Previously she served as a professor at Webster University – School of Communications and Journalism. Before that she was Managing Director of Narcotics Service Council and a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Washington University School of Medicine – Department of Psychiatry. She is also a journalist and academic writer.
Dr. Horne is Curator Emeritus of the University of Missouri System, serving as president in 1997. She has served in many other board capacities such as vice chair of ARCHS, co-chair of its Sustainable Neighborhoods. She currently serves as a member of the Scholarship Foundation board and chairs its board development committee. A longtime advocate of character education for children, she serves on the national advisory council of Sri Sathya Sai Baba Education in Human Values, a worldwide organization. She is recipient of the 2001 Women of Achievement Award.
Malaika Horne, Ph. D.
Director, Executive Leadership Institute
College of Business Administration, University of Missouri – St Louis
Office: 441 SSB
Voice: 516-4749
Fax: 516-6420
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Malaika B. Horne, Ph.D., served the people of Missouri with distinction as a member of the University of Missouri System Board of Curators from September 22, 1994, through January 7, 2003; and
WHEREAS, Curator Horne served as Vice President of the Board from January 1, 1996, through December 31, 1996, and as President of the Board from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 1997; and
WHEREAS, during her tenure on the Board, she chaired the Executive Committee, as well as committees on Resources and Planning and Academic and Student Affairs, and served on the committees for Finance, Telecommunication Technology, Information and Technology, Health Sciences and both the 1997 and 2002 Presidential Succession Committees; and
WHEREAS, she was instrumental in establishing and naming the Lloyd L. Gaines-Marian O’Fallon Oldham Black Culture Center at UM-Columbia; and
WHEREAS, her term as president was characterized by a commitment to ensuring broad access to the University’s educational and other resources so as to best meet the state’s economic, social and cultural needs; and
WHEREAS, during her presidency, the University crafted its first Mission Enhancement request for additional state funding to help the University better fulfill its teaching, research and service missions; and
WHEREAS, as a member of the K-16 Task Force she helped generate policy proposals to improve education at all levels throughout Missouri; and
WHEREAS, Curator Horne was instrumental both in enhancing the Office of Secretary to the Board of Curators to properly reflect its broadened range of responsibilities in the 21st century and in hiring Kathleen M. Miller to serve as the Secretary to the Board; and
WHEREAS, Curator Horne’s tenure on the Board was characterized by a steady, measured approach to problem solving; a personal commitment to keeping public higher education affordable and accessible; and a deep and abiding love for her alma mater:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Curators, on behalf of the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University of Missouri System, and on behalf of the citizens of the State of Missouri, does hereby adopt this resolution in sincere appreciation of the dedicated and devoted service of Malaika B. Horne, Ph.D.;
AND ALSO, that her future relations with the University of Missouri System be formally recognized by bestowing the title of “Curator Emeritus” upon Malaika B. Horne, Ph.D.; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary to the Board of Curators cause this resolution to be spread upon the minutes of this meeting and that a duly inscribed copy thereof be furnished to Malaika B. Horne, Ph.D.
Tags: black cultural center, malaika horne, resolution, university of missouri
In Memory of Damon White, University of Missouri Legion of Black Collegians President
The body of Iota Phi Beta, Damon White (a.k.a. “Sermon” #1 Beta Tau, Spring ’95), a former University of Missouri student who disappeared in March 1999, was positively identified by Jackson County medical examiners in November, 2000.
When Damon White disappeared in May 1999, he left behind a sizable legacy on the MU campus.
White had twice been elected president of the Legion of Black Collegians at MU and was instrumental in the construction of the university’s Lloyd L. Gaines/Marian O’Fallon Oldham Black Culture Center. He spoke at the center’s groundbreaking in 1997, regularly weighed in on race issues at the university and was a founding member of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity. A memorial scholarship was created in his memory.
White had transferred to the University of Missouri-Kansas City shortly before he disappeared to re-take a math course, but planned to return to MU in the fall of 1999 and graduate in December, his family said.
Following White’s disappearance, vigils were held in Kansas City and Columbia. Students gathered at the A.P. Green Chapel, next to Memorial Union, to pray for his safe return. White’s mother, Janet, and his two sisters pleaded with local media to print and broadcast information about his disappearance.
“We hired private investigators, we were going on searches, we were on television,” Damon White’s older sister, Shonte Dulin, said.
Years went by with no arrests and no leads. Meanwhile, Janet White’s health gradually worsened.
“She always held out hope that Damon would be found,” Phire White said. “When we found him, she lost that fight.”
She suffered a heart attack and died in 2002. She was 47.
“The police are now investigating it as a murder, even though a cause of death has not been determined,” Kansas City City Councilman Alvin Brooks said.
White, former president of MU’s Legion of Black Collegians and the Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc., was last seen at his family’s Kansas City apartment at 1 a.m. on March 2, 1999.
“I felt for a long time that he was most likely dead,” said Tim Wilson, former assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “It only confirms what I’ve thought for a long time.”
Two hikers and their children found White’s skeletal remains in a wooded area near Interstate 470 and Raytown Road in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon. Dental records were compared before a public identification was made Wednesday.
White’s body was found about six miles from where a car he had borrowed on March 2 from his sister, Phire, was found four days after his disappearance. The car contained blood stains believed to be White’s, Brooks said.
“It seems weird to me that the body was found so close to where the car was,” said Kenyon Railey, a friend of White’s and current president of LBC.
A spokesman for the medical examiner’s office said no cause of death is known at this time and that there is no projection for when a cause of death will be announced. If a cause of death cannot be determined by the medical examiner, the skeletal remains will be sent to a forensic anthropologist for further analysis.
The case is being investigated by the Kansas City Police Department homicide division, which could not be reached for comment.
“The body being found so close to where the car was kind of makes me question what kind of investigation force they had out there looking,” said Ebonie Cunningham, a friend of White’s. “It kind of makes me wonder how important this case was to the police department.”
White was the victim of a severe beating several weeks before his disappearance, Brooks said. He also said police are considering the option that the beating and the disappearance are related.
“Simply based on the circumstances in which he disappeared, it seems like there may be some sort of foul play involved,” Railey said.
White was a political science major at MU and was taking classes at University of Missouri-Kansas City at the time of his disappearance. He served as the president of MU’s chapter of LBC from 1996 to 1997.
Many of the people who knew White while he was an MU student have graduated. Those students who do remember him said they are glad the body was found.
“Of course, this is not the best of news, but it does bring closure,” said Mack Williams, a friend of White’s.
The discovery has prompted LBC and other campus organizations to again focus their attention on White.
“We don’t know what steps we want to take, but we definitely want to do something in his memory,” Railey said.
Friends of White’s have already received word from the family that plans for a funeral are in the works, but no definite plans have been made, Cunningham said.
“As for a memorial service, I think there should be; there damn well better be,” Wilson said.•
Story from APWire
Tags: black culture center, Columbia, Damon White, death, fraternity, gay, Kansas City, university of missouri