Inside the Vault: Black Enfranchisement and Education: Selected Gilder Lehrman Collection Items on Exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum
by Gilder Lehrman Staff
On January 5, 2023, our curators discussed documents from the Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition Fighting to Learn: Black Enfranchisement and Education in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. They were joined by Dr. Jesse Erickson, Astor Curator of Printed Books and Bindings at the Morgan, who discussed how the documents illustrate the Black community’s persistent struggles for emancipation, enfranchisement, and the right to quality education.
Click here to download the slides from the presentation.
FEATURED DOCUMENTS
- Engraving of five African American members of Congress, 1870
- The Work of the Afro-American Woman by Gertrude Bustill Mossell, 1894
- Envelope from the Board of Education addressed to Josephine B. Bruce, 1907
USE THE TIMESTAMPS BELOW TO JUMP TO THE TOPIC YOU WANT TO VIEW
- 0:45–6:21: Today’s Documents
- 6:22–11:43: African American Congressmen
- 11:44–16:29: Letter from Albert D. Thompson to Blanche Kelso Bruce
- 16:30–21:56: Gertrude Bustill Mossell
- 21:57–34:36: The Work of the Afro-American Woman
- 34:37–48:19: Letter from the Board of Education to Josephine B. Bruce
- 48:20–1:01:22: Q&A
RELATED RESOURCES
- Essay: “Reconstruction” by Edward L. Ayers (University of Richmond)
- Essay: “African Americans and Emancipation” by Manisha Sinha (University of Connecticut)
- Online Exhibition: “Timeline: Fulfilling America’s Founding Principles: African American History”
- Video: “Reconstruction and Citizenship” by Eric Foner (Columbia University)
- Video: “The Legal Battle for Racial Equality, 1787–1954” by Larry Kramer (Stanford Law School)
- Video Exhibition: “African American Voting Rights”