Search Results: African Americana from Langdon Manor Books LLC

Cleveland, Ohio, 1948. 9" x 6". Bifolium. pp. [4]. Very good with crease from vertical fold; light dust soiling; tape residue at top and bottom of third page. On March 6, 1948, a Cleveland social group known as "The 12 Counts" put on a shindig to celebrate their ninth anniversary at the Paradise Auditorium. The festivities promoted community spirit and include music, speeches, dancing and a salute to other clubs. The program lists an additional 17 African American social groups with whom The 12 Counts interacted. We have been unable to unearth much information regarding the group. A special notice at the top reminded attendees that the events of the evening would be filmed and turned into a movie that would be shown at a future gathering, "so please look your prettiest and act your best." Perhaps further exploration will reveal more about this group, and the movie they made. Reminder of a little known social group that persisted for years in 1940s Cleveland. None located in OCLC. This item… Read More

McDowell County, West Virginia: North Fork District Schools, 1921. Good. 11¼" x 7¾". Thin card wrappers. Pp. [108]. Good: covers heavily worn, separated from textblock and partially detached from each other; two images affected by large orange stains; some pages with moderate soiling, primarily at edges; one line of text blacked out with marker. This is a rare school district annual yearbook which provides a striking view into the segregation of schools. It also serves as a great reference for West Virginia schools and businesses. A foreword by the Superintendent of the North Fork district schools suggested that this book was "perhaps the first of its character and scope in the state." It listed the administrative staff of the district as well as goals for the upcoming year. There were photographic images of the faculty members of all of the district's schools: first the white teachers, then the Black. Student life was documented similarly, portraying segregation with compelling clarity. Pages… Read More

Detroit, Michigan: The H. O'Reilly Clint Co, 1930. Very good. 12¼" x 9¼". Sheet music. Pp. 6. Very good with moderate wear and light dust soiling. This is the sheet music for a composition "dedicated to the Booker T. Washington Memorial, Detroit, Mich." It features a full page illustrated image of Washington as well as striking cover art of "Lifting the Veil of Ignorance," a statue of Washington created by Charles Keck in the 1920s and which is on the grounds of Tuskegee Institute. We were unable to find any information about the music/lyrics or about the Booker T. Washington Memorial in Detroit for which it was composed, save one Detroit newspaper article found online that mentioned the "tiny Booker T. Washington Memorial Park, started in the 1920s by a group of Black lawyers." Rare documentation of a possibly lost memorial to Washington, coupled with previously unknown uplift music. A ghost of a project, with OCLC locating no copies; no mentions in numerous variants of Google searches, nor on… Read More

Taylor and Austin, Texas, 1936. Good +. 4½" x 6". String-tied commercial autograph book with 112 pages, 35 of which contain handwritten text. Good plus: wrappers moderately soiled and worn; scattered small stains to most pages. This is an autograph book compiled by a young woman attending Blackshear High School (BHS), Allyne E.B. "Polly" Lewis. BHS was the first high school for African Americans in Taylor, Texas. Lewis went on to a long career as a beloved schoolteacher and Baptist women's leader. The first school for Black students in Taylor opened around 1881 and operated under various names. In 1918, Oliver Lewis (O.L.) Price became principal of the "Col*red School" of Taylor; at the time there were five teachers and fewer than ten students in the school. Price renamed the school in honor of Edward L. Blackshear, the noted African American educator and president of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University). Price also served as president of the Ne*ro… Read More

[Louisville, Kentucky]: [Menelek Club], 1929. Good. Felt banner measuring 11" x 26½" at its tallest and widest. Good: patches of soiling and fading with a few small holes; lacking one tassel. This is a pennant for the Menelek Club of Louisville, an African American social club that began in 1926. According to an oral history given by an employee of the Louisville Leader, a weekly Black newspaper at the time, the club was named for Menelik, the claimed first Emperor of Ethiopia and son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The members were the city's Black leaders, professional and business men. They made charitable donations to the city and were active in civic affairs. We found only one mention of a Menelek club in a newspaper after 1929, but we believe that this 1932 article referenced a physical place and not the social club. Henry Allen was the founder and first president of the club. He and his wife Bessie were the first African American social workers in Louisville, and managed the… Read More

Washington, D.C.: Merchants' Printing Co., Printers, 1907. Very good. 6 7/8" x 4 3/8". Blue cloth, title gilt. Pp. ix, [2], 244 + two unnumbered pages of charts. Very good: covers a bit scuffed and stained; one page with penciled scrawl across three lines of text not affecting legibility; a few tiny creases and a bit of scattered stray ink. This is a book intended to assist with the study of the Bible, written by an African American minister and professor at Howard University, Sterling N. Brown. Sterling Nelson Brown was born to enslaved parents in East Tennessee in 1858. He graduated from Fisk College in 1885 and from the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1888. Brown was a pastor in Washington, D.C. for 25 years, simultaneously serving as a Bible professor at Howard University. He resigned from the ministry in 1913 to work solely at Howard, teaching and directing the School of Religion's Department of Extension Work and Correspondence Study. He wrote an autobiography in 1924 and died in 1929.… Read More

Detroit, Michigan: Black Political Review, 1966. Very good. 11" x 8½". Stapled wrappers. pp. 28 + laid in leaf. Very good: top staple loosening, wrappers lightly dust soiled, moderate edge wear; laid in sheet with numerous small tears at right edge. This is the first issue of a periodical which documents a short-lived political movement by a young man who later married the author, Gayl Jones. Over time, he went insane and made nationwide news in 1998 when an article about Jones' latest book led to a standoff with police and his suicide. The founder of the movement, Robert C. Higgins, was born in Cleveland in 1947, abandoned at a young age by his mother, and raised by relatives and foster families in Detroit. One foster family was that of George Breitman, a strong supporter of Black nationalism, who was also a strong influence on Higgins. At the age of 19 Higgins founded an organization on the Wayne State campus called the "Black Political Study Group" ("BPSG"). According to a 1998 New York Times… Read More

[Xenia, Ohio?], 1918. Very good. 6¼" x 28". Blueprint. Very good with some creases and chips; rolled. This is a blueprint for a trolley guard that was invented and patented by Robert Dickenson, an African American from Ohio. While his wife raised their nine children in Xenia, he was almost always on the road trying to earn a living as a carpenter. His invention received patent number 1,314,130 in 1919. Its description in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office reads, [i]"the combination with a trolley wheel having flanges and a bearing therefor, of a pair of rotatable rollers mounted at opposite sides of said wheel and having semi-speherical upper portions and frusto-conical lower portions overlying and engaging the flanges of said wheel."[/i] In 1920, with four others, Dickenson formed The Dickenson Trolley Guard Manufacturing Company. Although the business was capitalized with $10,000, we can find no record of its manufacturing the guard. A rare artifact documenting an… Read More

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1916. Good. 9½" x 6¼". Green cloth over boards, t.e.g. Pp. xx, 331 + author frontispiece + 15 (of 15) unnumbered plates interspersed + laid in two page circular letter. Good: Julius Rosenwald gift bookplate on FFEP; hinges cracked; covers moderately soiled; a few leaves adhered together; scattered spotting, tears and edge wear. Owner signature in two spots. This is a reasonably common book made special by its history of ownership and association. The book, a biography of Booker T. Washington, was co-written by Emmett Jay Scott, Washington's personal secretary, key adviser and Secretary of the Tuskegee Institute, and Lyman Beecher Stowe, grandson and biographer of Harriet Beecher Stowe. It has a foreword by Robert Moton, Principal of Tuskegee Institute, and a preface by President Theodore Roosevelt. This copy features two signatures of its owner, Mrs. Nellie Lee Elmore. Elmore, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, was a teacher and supervisor of… Read More

[Atlanta, Georgia]: (Eugene Talmadge Campaign?), 1946. Very good +. 14¾" x 8¼". Broadside. Very good plus with minimal wear and folded horizontally at center. This is an ugly reminder of the 1946 Georgia Gubernatorial primary which saw the disenfranchisement of thousands of African Americans--more than enough to sway that election. Earlier in 1946, the Georgia Democratic party's use of a white primary was struck down as unconstitutional. While four people ran in this primary, the race was mostly between Eugene Talmadge, a former two-term governor and staunch segregationist, and James V. Carmichael. Carmichael was a businessman who was seen as a progressive reformer and he had strong support among African American voters. The primary that year was held July 17, 1946. According to Joseph L. Bernd, in "White Supremacy and the Disfranchisement of Blacks in Georgia, 1946." (The Georgia Historical Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 4, 1982, pp. 492-513. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40580970. Accessed 16 Apr.… Read More

Xenia, Ohio: N. P., 1927. Good. 11" x 13¾". Broadside on thick card, printed recto only. Good: three heavy creases from vertical folds; two inch tear at center crease; moderate staining and discoloration at extremities. This is a broadside for a "Musicale" performance held in 1927 at the St. John's A. M. E. church in Xenia, Ohio. Professor William A. Sykes, pianist/organist, chorus director and head of the Conservatory of Music at Wilberforce University, served as accompanist for lyric tenor James S. Lucas and baritone Siljaum Earl Bauchamp (which was likely a typo for "Beauchamp"). Though the hometowns of the vocalists were listed on the broadside (New York City and Detroit, Michigan, respectively), Lucas and Beauchamp were soloists in the Wilberforce men's chorus. Professor Sykes had a long career in music education and performance, previously serving as Director of the Haven Conservatory of Music (part of an HBCU in Meridian, Mississippi) and as Music Director at Bennett College (an HBCU for… Read More

[Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1945. Poster. Near fine: folded as issued, 1/8" tear in upper and lower left margins and one pinpoint separation at intersection. An World War II government poster which uncommonly features an African American. It encourages the purchase of war bonds, with an image of Booker T. Washington, along with his quote, "Without vision there is no hope. Protect your country...and your future." OCLC locates four holdings over two entries, internet searches reveal another two. This item is offered by Langdon Manor Books, LLC, antiquarian booksellers. Please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information and/or photos and we will respond promptly. We package our items carefully, ship daily, and have a no hassle returns policy--your satisfaction is guaranteed. We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksllers (ILAB) and the Independent Online Booksellers Association… Read More

Tallahassee, Florida, 1941. Very good. 11" x 8½". 22 leaves printed rectos only, upper left corner stapled. Pp. 21. Very good: title leaf detached and with moderate edge chips; first two leaves with a strip of toning along the right edge. This is the original typescript of a commencement speech delivered at a Florida HBCU that was presented by the longrunning president of a Texas HBCU, M.W. Dogan. Mathew Winfred Dogan was born in Mississippi in 1863. He served on the faculty of Rust University and Central Tennessee College before becoming president of Wiley College in Marshall, Texas in 1896. Wiley College, the oldest HBCU west of the Mississippi River, was founded by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1873. Dogan was Wiley's seventh president, but only its second Black one, and held his position for 46 years, the longest tenure of any Wiley president. Under his watch, the school's faculty and administration soon turned predominately African American, the campus and… Read More

New York: Carver Federal Savings and Loan Association, 1966. As new. 5½" x 8 3/8". Stapled wrappers. pp. [32]. As new in original illustrated, unused mailing envelope which is good due to the lack of a flap and some loss to the front panel. The 1967 edition of the CFSLA calendar is quite different from the others: it's essentially a short illustrated history of the bank itself, beginning with the initial meeting of Harlem residents who sought to create a community-owned banking institution for African Americans. Other months cover the bank's opening day, its expansion to other offices, its first church account and its first computer. The illustrator is unidentified.

Chicago, Illinois, 1960. Good. 11" x 8 1/2". Stapled mimeographed newsletter. Three leaves printed rectos only. About good: heavily creased at old folds; moderately stained and soiled. This is an issue of a rare monthly newsletter published by a little known African American student organization, the Chicago Youth Committee for Civil Rights (CYCCR). Most of what we know about CYCCR is found only in this newsletter, though the organization was given a brief mention in a scholarly article as one of a slew of student organizations that contributed to the development of civil rights activism on the University of Chicago campus in the early 1960s. Together with the NAACP and CORE, CCYCCR sponsored a variety of demonstrations including "wade-ins" at Rainbow Beach on Chicago's lake front. This newsletter is almost entirely devoted to upcoming demonstrations and protests and includes a calendar for December 1960 which lists a total of three picket lines, a protest and a kneel-in. The three picket lines… Read More

Washington, D. C.: National Education Association, 1965. Fine. 11" x 8 ½". Stapled, thin card pictorial wrappers. Pp. 24. Fine. From the overview: "In early 1963, the NEA Commission on Professional Rights and Responsibilities began planning for meetings to bring together leading educators and leaders in the civil rights movement. Through such confrontations, we hoped to clarify: (1) the responsibilities of the education profession for advancing civil rights; and (2) the obligation of the civil rights movement participants for making practical, constructive proposals to help educators to meet their responsibilities. "Over two days in May, 1965, members of over 100 organizations met to listen to civil rights and education leaders as well as meet in smaller groups to hash out the issues faced. They then created a proposed list of 25 actions that should be taken on the local and national level including, "take a clear stand on employment and assignment of teachers without regard to race; publicize it;… Read More

Mostly Watkins, New York, 1900. Very good +. 17 mounted black and white photographs. All but two measure approximately 5½" x 3¾" on larger card mounts. Two are captioned verso. Generally very good plus or better. This is a collection of Upstate New York cabinet cards depicting African Americans. 15 have photographer imprints with twelve of them being from Watkins, New York; the others are Waverly, Elmira and Auburn. The captions don't provide very much information as they lack last names. Still, a lovely collection of late 19th century African American photography.

St. Louis, Missouri: [Committee of the Community Race Relations Institute], 1946. 10¾" x 8¾". Stapled wrappers. Reproduced typescript printed rectos only. [4], 154A [i.e. 155] leaves. Very good: wrappers moderately worn, scuffed and dust soiled; wrappers and a few leaves with small chips; text lightly toned. In February, 1946, leaders from thirty-four civic, welfare, religious and labor organizations met at the downtown Y.M.C.A. in St. Louis with the goal of improving that city's race relations. This is the report of those meetings. The Community Race Relations Institute ("CRRI") grew out of the Race Relations Department of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries. According to the Amistad Research Center, the department's mission was to "define problem areas related to race relations in the United States, to develop programs and techniques designed to promote constructive action, and to work toward relieving areas of tension utilizing, wherever possible, local resources." The department,… Read More

[Philadelphia, PA]: [Pan African Federation Organization], 1978. Very good. 11¼" x 9¼" black vinyl commercial three-ring album. Pp. [185] + 5 pages of handwritten quiz questions laid in. Very good: album chipped at two corners and lightly mottled; some scattered small stains and light edgewear; some pages printed lightly or crooked, as issued; one page loose at bottom ring and a few reinforced at an earlier date. This is a binder documenting an obscure course in African and Black American history that was produced by a little-known Philadelphia group, the Pan African Federation Organization (PAFO). The materials reveal a deeply moving effort to advance Black Americans' knowledge of African culture, replete with an attending student's copious underlining and manuscript notations. There is very little online evidence to be found on PAFO, which was incorporated in Philadelphia in 1978. Two sources reported people earning a "bachelor of historical education" from PAFO, the group gave a… Read More

[Department of Defense Dependents Schools], 1989. Good. 22" x 17". Poster. Good: folded twice, moderate to heavy creasing throughout. This is a rare poster produced by the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS) which celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month in 1989. It features sketches of King as well as several African American luminaries such as Jesse Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Count Basie, Willie Mays, and Walter Payton. Not in OCLC.