Howard University President: Research Center Will Not Close 11/18/2009

In a Nov. 16 letter  posted on the university Web site, Howard President Sidney A. Ribeau reaffirmed the college’s commitment to keeping the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center open. The letter was posted in response to a recent article in the student daily newspaper, the Hilltop, that questioned the facility’s future. The center houses thousands of bound volumes, journals, manuscripts and other data chronicling the lives of African descendants throughout the Diaspora.

“ This story sparked articles and outcries across the country. We have received your letters, emails and Facebook messages. Please be assured that the University will not close Moorland-Spingarn and there were never plans to do so,” Ribeau said. “Despite recent budget cuts across the University to weather the economic downturn, we have not reduced funding to the Center. In fact, a national search will begin shortly to find a permanent director to continue the stellar work Dr. Thomas Battle has done for more than two decades. The new leader will also expand the ‘Friends of MSRC’ fundraising program launched in 1996 and explore ways to attract additional financial support for a stronger Moorland-Spingarn.”

Red Cross Sells Treasures to Cut Deficit 11/17/2009

Responding to Midwest floods in summer 2008. Image courtesy of the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross  is selling pieces of its history as part of its cost-cutting efforts over the past two years. Today, an auction featuring items such as nurse uniforms from the Civil War will be one of the “first rounds of an extensive sale of treasures the American Red Cross has amassed over the decades,” according to an Associated Press story.

“There’s an opportunity for people to purchase a part of the Red Cross history and at the same time contribute to our humanitarian mission,” said Red Cross spokesman Roger Lowe. At a time when many companies are cutting back on such vast archival collections, 128-year-old charity, he said, is asking itself, “Do I really need all of this?”

To save $3 million annually, the charity will close its Lorton, Va. where thousands of objects are stored.

According to the AP, “the online auctions began this month through Heritage Auction Galleries and will continue through February.”

Many items predate the founding of the charity in 1881. Many will be sent to the National Archives while “the most historically significant art and objects will be kept at the Washington headquarters and others will be auctioned in the largest sale in years, said archivist Susan Watson.”

“The charity will honor donor intent and keep its best and most historically significant art and objects, Lowe said. That will include original paintings by Norman Rockwell, Howard Chandler Christy and African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, among others. Rockwell was commissioned to do paintings for the Red Cross as the basis of posters asking people to join or donate,” according to the AP.

The Red Cross assists disaster victims, supplies blood and supports military personnel and their families as well as teaches life-saving skills through its nearly 720 chapters.

Officials: Howard Doesn’t Plan to Close Research Center 11/11/2009

In the latest edition of Journal-isms, a three-times-a-week online column produced by Richard Prince, officials at Howard University denied intentions of closing the 95-year-old Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. Prince cited Camille Augustin’s article Monday in the university’s student newspaper, the Hilltop, that noted the “university’s Chief Academic Office issued a statement vowing the center will not be closed.”

On Friday, Augustin wrote about how structural, staffing and financial challenges threatened the future of the renowned center.

“‘There is no intention to close the center,’ said Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Alvin Thornton, Ph.D., in an e-mail to The Hilltop on Sunday. ‘It is a treasured and valued part of Howard and will continue,’” according to the Hilltop article.

Thornton noted that the university is searching for a national director and reviewing how to maintain the research center “part of a larger university-wide academic and support program review.”

Black Research Center May Close 11/09/2009

Staffing and budget cuts may force the closure of Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, which is housed in Founder’s Library at Howard University.

“The loss of 60 percent of its resources and the abolishment of some critical positions due to the Voluntary Separation Incentive Retirement Program (VSIRP) resulted in many problems,” interim director Thomas C. Battle told the daily student newspaper, the Hilltop.

It is one of the world’s largest repositories of documents and other information about individuals, institutions and issues important to people of African descent throughout the world including the papers of medical pioneer Dr. Charles Drew, Congressional Black Caucus  records and copies of Afro-American  newspapers, one of the nation’s largest black newspapers.

Its collections include more than 175,000 bound volumes; thousands of journals, periodicals, and newspapers; and 100,000 prints, photographs, maps, and other graphic items.

“This should be a greater outcry. This is the premier place to research black history and culture,” Battle told the Hilltop.