The Work of Trailblazers and Pioneers Through Their Archives
The Exhibition
The Work of Trailblazers and Pioneers Through Their Archives is an exhibition by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center of the Boston University Libraries in Support of the College of Communication’s Black Media: Pioneers Then and Now symposium at the Howard Thurman Center. This symposium to highlights Black media professionals and their innovative and important work in the journalism, PR, marketing, advertising, and film industries.
The material on display includes rare books, manuscript, news clippings, correspondence, and photographs are part of the archival collections held in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and showcase a small selection of the work of Black media pioneers and professionals held at the Center. Highlighted in the exhibition is cartoonist and jazz critic E. Simms Campbell; publisher and activist William Monroe Trotter; journalist, author, and editor Alex Poinsett; and reporter, columnist, editor, author, and educator Dorothy Butler Gilliam.
On display at the Howard Thurman Center, 808 Commonwealth Avenue.
Biographical Sources and Additional Information
Elmer Simms Campbell
- blackpast.org/african-american-history/campbell-e-simms-1906-1971
- https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/e-simms-campbell
- societyillustrators.org/award-winners/e-simms-campbell
- saturdayeveningpost.com/2022/02/the-art-of-the-post-elmer-simms-campbell-the-first-successful-black-magazine-illustrator
Dorothy Butler Gilliam
- www.dorothybgilliam.com/bio
- thehistorymakers.org/biography/dorothy-b-gilliam-39
- magazine.columbia.edu/article/dorothy-butler-gilliam-newsroom-pioneer
Alex Poinsett
- ebony.com/alex-poinsett-former-ebony-editor-dies-at-89
- amsterdamnews.com/news/2015/11/05/famed-ebony-journalist-alex-poinsett-dies-87
- phillytrib.com/obituaries/alex-poinsett-89-co-founder-national-association-of-black-journalists/article_851da1a6-d2e9-5737-ab3b-ec97ba0ca309.html
William Monroe Trotter & The Boston Guardian
- trotter.hks.harvard.edu/our-namesake
- blackpast.org/african-american-history/trotter-william-monroe-1872-1934
- newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/the-legacy-of-a-radical-black-newspaperman
Acknowledgements
| Christopher Gately, Curator Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Boston University Libraries |
Mariette DiChristina Professor of the Practice and Dean, College of Communication |
| Sean Noel Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Boston University Libraries |
Sarah Kess Meetings & Events Coordinator; Associate Director, The Power of Narrative, College of Communication |
| Ryan Hendrickson Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Boston University Libraries |
Nick Bates Director, The Howard Thurman Center |
| Alex Rankin Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Boston University Libraries |
Karen Brown Executive Secretary, The Howard Thurman Center |
| Eleni Castro Digital Ventures Boston University Libraries |
Nicole McCaffrey Director of Finance and Business Services, Boston University Libraries |
| Amanda Fowler Digital Ventures Boston University Libraries |
Jennifer Gunter King Associate University Librarian for Special Collections |
| Sami Wright Digital Ventures Boston University Libraries |
Mark Newton University Librarian |