Black History Month 2014 at the American Library in Paris: Reimagining Blacks in the American West

The Body Guard of Yosemite
Yosemite National Park File Photo
Almost a year ago, Naida Culshaw, former External Relations Manager at the American Library in Paris, contacted me to ask if I'd brainstorm ideas for the 2014 Black History Month exposition at the Library. The movie Django Unchained had recently been released and Naida was intrigued by a BBC article by Sarfraz Manzoor entitled "America's Forgotten Black Cowboys." She told me that she was thinking about mounting an exhibit about black cowboys and because she knew that I am from Houston, Texas, she wondered if I could help her with possible sources of information on the topic. I could not refuse.

"Go Texan" Day and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are an indelible part of my memories of growing up. My brother, Malcolm Wells, and his best friend, Ed Williams, work the rodeo every year. Ed also participates in trail rides prior to the annual Livestock Show and Rodeo. Could I help with sources of information? YES!

Ed uncovered two gems for us - Captain Paul Matthews, who is at the helm of the Buffalo Soldier Museum, and Mollie Stevenson, Jr., current owner of the Taylor-Stevenson Ranch and the American Cowboy Museum. Both sites are in Houston and I visited them during my annual trip home.

To make a long story short...

When Naida and I sat down over lunch to discuss what I had discovered during my visit home, it became quickly apparent that the subject of Blacks in the American West went far deeper than Naida's original concept for the exposition. In addition to black men, there were also black women who played an important role in settling the American West. There were not only cowboys, but also fur trappers, Pony Express riders, and soldiers. What's more, the black cowboy and cowgirl are an integral part of contemporary life in the American West.

Naida, who is a brilliant and passionate researcher, went to work on all of this information. The current exhibit at the American Library - Reimagining Blacks in the American West - is the result.

Reimagining Blacks in the American West exposition
© Discover Paris!
On February 19th, Naida delivered a talk during which she presented facts and anecdotes about much of what is displayed in the library's exhibit case. She then invited participants to the back of the room and responded to questions about the many colorful people and stories that she shared during the presentation.

Black Women of the Old West
© Discover Paris!

Mollie Stevenson, Jr. and the Taylor-Stevenson Ranch
© Discover Paris!

Black Cowboys of the West
© Discover Paris!

Nat Love, a. k. a. Deadwood Dick
© Discover Paris!
Cheryl Ann Bolden, educator and curator of Precious Cargo and one of the African Americans featured in Black Paris Profiles, catered the event with mild and spicy chicken wings and cornbread.

An exceptional event is programmed at the Library on March 8th at 2 PM, when Captain Matthews will deliver a presentation on the history and achievements of the African American military experience from the Revolutionary War to present day conflicts. Particular attention will be given to the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers, who were originally members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army formed in 1866.

The "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 24th Infantry on patrol in Yosemite National Park, 1899.
Source: Yosemite Research Library
For more information and to sign up for the presentation, click here. SEATING IS LIMITED!

The Reimagining Blacks in the American West exhibit will be on view through March 16, 2014.

American Library in Paris
10, rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 53 59 12 60
Metro: Ecole Militaire (line 8), Alma-Marceau (line 9)
RER: Pont de l'Alma (line C)

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Black Paris Profiles™: Cheryl Ann Bolden

Cheryl Ann Bolden is an artist / curator and the creator of Precious Cargo – A Traveling Museum Dedicated to the African Diaspora. A world traveler, she has studied medicine in China and weaving and textile arts in Western Australia. She has lived in Paris since 1997 and has visited several nations to present expositions of Precious Cargo.

Cheryl talking
Photo courtesy of Cheryl Ann Bolden
Cheryl believes that being an artist is a way of life – an attitude. She studied classical ballet as a child and remembers having a vivid imagination and “speaking with spirits” at a young age. However, she did not pursue formal study in art until after her medical studies in China in 1981. She began her training in Australia and then studied at the Corcoran in Washington, D.C. She learned art history as a guide at the Phillips Collection (the U.S.’ first museum of modern art) and the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Black Paris Profiles™ is now available on Kindle.  Only excerpts are available on this blog.

To get your copy of Black Paris Profiles™, click HERE.

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Black History Month at the American Library in Paris

For the past few years, the American Library in Paris has celebrated Black History Month with a month-long exhibit and an evening presentation on a unique aspect of African / Diaspora history.

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Join me at The American Library in Paris on

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

for my presentation entitled

Following the Flavors of the African Diaspora

Details at the end of this article!

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In 2009, the Library asked Cheryl Ann Bolden – artist and curator of the private traveling museum "Precious Cargo" – to present “Images of Blacks in Western Art.” It also mounted an exposition of the same name that was on view from January 26 through March 2, 2009.

Image from Cheryl Bolden’s 2009 Presentation*
Photo courtesy of the American Library in Paris
Bolden, who was a student at Sotheby's London and a research associate at the Cambridge University African Studies Center, spoke about Western artists’ portrayals of black people “as saints, sinners, heroes, and villains -- in a number and variety to astonish even scholars.” She explored the hidden meanings of these images and talked of how each lies open to the interpretation of the individual viewer.

The year 2010 brought Swoosh! Crack! Roar! - Celebrating the Negro Leagues and the All-American Girls Baseball League to the exhibit case at the Library. It was on view from February 2nd through March 20th in honor of Black History Month and Women’s History Month. On February 3rd; artist and author Kadir Nelson spoke about his first book entitled We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Nelson spent seven years researching, writing, and painting the history of the Negro Leagues Baseball for this book, in which he relates the story of the life of a Negro League ballplayer both on and off the field in the voice of an elder fictional "every player."

Book cover for We Are the Ship
During his presentation, Nelson poignantly and humorously shared the story of how he developed as an artist and the detailed process of creating the text and art for his book.

On February 9, 2010, I had the pleasure of presenting my signature lecture entitled “Black Paris and the Myth of a Colorblind France.” I provided an overview of over 200 years of African-American history in Paris with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries, speaking of statesmen and solders as well as artists and entertainers. I then presented the story behind the myth of a colorblind France, followed by several images of contemporary Black Paris. The question and answer period at the end of the talk was quite lively!

In 2011, the Library mounted an exposition called Images of the African Diaspora in New York City Community Murals. Curated by Jane Weissmann, it hung from February 1st through March 30th. Weissman is co-author of the cultural history On the Wall: Four Decades of Community Murals in New York City. She created Images of the African Diaspora in New York City Community Murals in conjunction with the publication of On the Wall.

The exposition explored how African and Caribbean art, history, religion and myth have influenced mural themes and content. It focused on the National Black Arts Movement (often considered the cultural art of the Black Power Movement), the artistic philosophy of Ghanaian artist Kofi Antubam, and how the artists drew inspiration from Adinkra and African fertility symbols, Ndebele house painting, Egyptian rituals, and representations of Jesus and his disciples as Blacks.

Laura James, Behold How Good and Pleasant It Is...,
1992 Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York
photo: © Janet Braun-Reinitz

This year, I am honored to be the featured speaker for Black History Month in conjunction with the Library’s exposition entitled Following the Flavors of the African Diaspora. The exhibit encourages visitors to “discover the flavors of the African Diaspora, from Africa to South and Central America, the Caribbean islands, and North America and consider how food has expressed and continues to express identity among groups with African ancestry throughout the world.” It runs from February 7th through March 4th.

In my presentation on February 7th, I will discuss the common threads found among various foods and methods of food preparation in Africa and its Diaspora and their cultural significance among African Diaspora peoples. I will also tell the story of my personal discoveries about several of these food items as I wrote my cookbook Food for the Soul – A Texas Expatriate Nurtures Her Culinary Roots in Paris.

Illustration from Food for the Soul
© Christiann Anderson
Do come out and join me for this talk! Entry is free!

Following the Flavors of the African Diaspora
The American Library in Paris
Tuesday 7 February 2012 at 7:30 PM
10, rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 53 59 12 60
Metro: Ecole Militaire (line 8), Alma-Marceau (line 9)
RER: Pont de l'Alma (line C)
Internet: http://www.americanlibraryinparis.org/

*Moses and His Ethiopian Wife
Jacob Jordens
c1650 Oil on canvas
Rubenshuis
Antwerp, Belgium

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