Storer College
When John Brown came to Harpers Ferry in 1859, organizing a school for enslaved African Americans was illegal. Eight years later, after a bloody Civil War, Storer College did just that—and more. To honor the 150th anniversary of the school’s founding, Harpers Ferry Park Association, in partnership with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, invited park rangers, professors, journalists, and scholars to tell the stories of the teachers, students, and reformers who strove to manifest a new world on the “hill of hope.” This collection reveals tales of courage and conviction, success and defeat, controversy and, above all, hope. Publisher: Harpers Ferry Park Association. Paperback, 176 pages. Measures 6" x 9". Weighs 10.5 oz.
From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area sought leisure destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Eureka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Collingwood Beach, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland. Author and public historian Patsy M. Fletcher reveals the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African American leisure. Train-related excursions chapters including Storer College, Harpers Ferry and Island Park. Author: Patsy Mose Fletcher. Publisher: The History Press. Paperback, 177 pages. Measures 6" x 9". Weighs 14.3 oz.
A Storer alumnus, Professor Saunders was the longest serving black teacher at the school. A resident of Harpers Ferry for 54 years, he was a trusted spiritual leader and well-known figure throughout the thriving African American community then living beyond Storer’s campus. Author: Lynn Pechuekonis. Publisher: Harpers Ferry Park Association. Paperback, 143 pages. Measures 6" x 9". Weighs 9.8 oz.
Storer College pennant, designed from school patch with original text, ca 1900.
Storer College seal, reproduced from original artwork by Louise Wood Brackett.
12 pages, pamphlet. Commemorative program of Storer College's 150th Anniversary in 2017. Contains a brief history of Storer College, the event's itinerary, an event map, and more. Pamphlet, 12 pages. Measures 8.5" x 11". Weighs 2.3 oz.
16 oz American-made mug hand thrown by artisan potters from Sunset Hill Stoneware in Wisconsin. Mulberry blush glaze featuring Storer College commemorative artwork.
A remarkable visual record of Cleveland's African American community spanning five decades During the Great Depression, photographer Allen Eugene Cole posted a sign in front of his studio in Cleveland's Central neighborhood: somebody, somewhere, wants your photograph. An entrepreneurial businessman with a keen ability to market his images of Cleveland's black experience, Cole was deeply immersed in civic life. A founder and treasurer of the Progressive Business League, Cole was an officer of the Dunbar Life Insurance Co., a member of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, and active in the Elks and Masons. For years he was the only black member of the Cleveland Society of Professional Photographers. Well into the 1960s his photographs appeared regularly in the Call & Post, Cleveland's African American weekly newspaper. A migrant to Cleveland in 1917, Allen Cole developed an interest in photography while employed as a waiter at the Cleveland Athletic Club. By 1922 he had opened his first studio at home, enlarging it over the years. It was in this studio that he photographed Perry B. Jackson, Ohio's first African American judge. The images of Jackson and the hundreds of other African Americans included in this volume were chosen from the thousands of photographs in the Allen Cole Collection at the Western Reserve Historical Society. They illustrate the diverse experiences among Cleveland's vibrant African American community. Social organizations, women's and men's clubs, civic and church groups, schoolchildren and teachers, businessmen, and politicians are all included in this charming and unique collection. In the accompanying text authors Samuel Black and Regennia Williams place Cole and his comprehensive visual catalog in the context of African American history and the Great Migration. Through the Lens of Allen E. Cole mines Cole's exceptional midtwentieth-century photographic chronicle of African American life and will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in American history, as well as specialists in African studies, history, sociology, urban affairs, and the photographic arts. Author: Samuel W. Black & Regennia N. Williams. Publisher: Kent State University Press. Hardcover, 132 pages. Measures 8.75" x 11.25". Weighs 1 lb. 11.4 oz.
Measures 7 ¾ x ¾ x 4 ½ Back Reads: Anthony Memorial Hall, the most prominent building on Camp Hill, played a role both in U.S. Armory history as the armory superintendent’s home, and in the Civil War as the Commanding Officer’s Headquarters. In 1882 it was the main hall for Storer College, established in 1867 for the education of freed slaves. It was home to the library, chapel, music rooms and science laboratory for attending students. In 1906, it was the site of the Niagara Movement conference, the cornerstone of the modern civil rights era. Today the tradition of education on this historic campus continues, as Anthony Hall is now the Stephen T. Mather Training Center, operated by the National Park Service.