Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center Records, 1966-2011

Predominant Dates: 1990-2010

The Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center Records document activities and events sponsored by the Center, Oregon State University students and staff affiliated with the Center, and the campus environment for African-American students at Oregon State since the 1960s. The Black Cultural Center was established at Oregon State University in 1975.

Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital. Reference access to the digital files stored on CDs in this collection is available upon request. Please see SCARC's "Accessing Audio-Visual Content" for more information.

Creators

ID: RG 244

Extent: 2.0 cubic feet

More Extent Information

Scope and Content Notes

The Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center Records document activities and events organized by the center such as staff retreats, Kwanzaa celebrations, Soul Food Day, annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations, open house receptions, bowling parties, Black History Month Dinners, and lectures by visiting scholars. The collection includes guest books, newsletters, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, signs, and a scrapbook. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs.

The photographs include about 1100 prints and 500 negatives (primarily color) and depict events and programs at the Center as well as students and staff affiliated with the Center in portrait images and groups photographs. Photographs of displays and exhibits as well as the Center building are included. Digital photographs of Center activities, including a tour of the Center by elementary school children, are stored on three compact discs (CDs) that are part of the collection.

The scrapbook consists primarily of newspaper clippings and copies of clippings documenting Center activities as well as the history of the Center and the 1969 Black Student Union walkout. In addition to OSU-related materials, some of the newspaper clippings pertain to Corvallis City Manager Gerald Seals.

Digitized versions of 4 photograph albums are available online. The albums are for the years 1992-1997 (Album 1), 1997-2001 (Album 2), 2001-2003 (Album 3), and 2003-2004 (Album 4). They include images of open houses at the Center; annual events such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebrations, Kwanzaa, and Black History Month; retreats; the 1996 boycott; Jesse Jackson's visit to Oregon State in 1992; fashion shows; the dedication of Carrie Halsell Hall; and students and staff affiliated with the Center. The original albums have been retained by the Center.

Reference access to the digital files stored on CDs in this collection is available upon request. Please see SCARC's "Accessing Audio-Visual Content" for more information.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research. Reference access to materials stored on CDs is available upon request. Please see SCARC's "Accessing Audio-Visual Content" for more information.

Statement on Description: This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.

Preferred Citation: Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center Records (RG 244), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: The materials were transferred from the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center in 2011.

Acquired: Additions to the collection are expected.

Languages of Materials

English

Other