Website Brings Attention to Lesser Known People in Black History
2020-03-06
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1Professor Matthew Delmont decided a few years ago that he wanted to change how he teaches African American history.
2Delmont teaches at Dartmouth College in the state of New Hampshire.
3At first, Delmont turned to Twitter.
4There, he shared stories of the everyday lives of African Americans he read about in black newspapers.
5That project expanded in November to become the website Black Quotidian.
6There, readers will find life stories of hundreds of African Americans taken from black newspapers.
7The stories appeared in publications between the early 1900s and the 1980s.
8The website contains copies of stories from more than 10 black newspapers, such as the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier.
9It also has audio recordings, pictures and videos.
10"l felt like my students were coming away from the class only thinking African American history was about these civil right(s) marches or about martyrs," Delmont said.
11"I felt like they spent so much time thinking about black death that they were losing sight of the broader complexity, really the beautiful aspects of African American history."
12The website shows African Americans who made their mark in sports, politics, the military and other areas.
13Among them are icons like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
14But Delmont also aims to bring attention to lesser known people.
15One of them is Juanita Blocker.
16She was the first black member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association.
17She wrote about bowling in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper for 20 years.
18The website also tells about Claudette Colvin of Montgomery, Alabama.
19As a 15-year-old, she refused to give up her seat on a bus - nine months before Rosa Parks did the same.
20Delmont said, "These iconic figures are important but we need to understand the everyday people doing important things in their community."
21He added that he has observed a growing interest in rediscovering overlooked African Americans.
22Delmont said he hopes the website brings attention to black newspapers.
23He said the publications were especially important for African American communities that had recently migrated north.
24The newspapers described people's daily lives.
25They provided news of everything from politics to sports to weddings.
26Ethan Michaeli worked for the Chicago Defender and wrote a book about the newspaper.
27He said Delmont's website is offering a fresh look at the role these newspapers played in black communities.
28Many of the papers included on the website have closed or no longer print newspapers.
29Michaeli said, "I'm very excited about it as kind of serving as the bridge between the past and the present in this way."
30I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Professor Matthew Delmont decided a few years ago that he wanted to change how he teaches African American history. 2Delmont teaches at Dartmouth College in the state of New Hampshire. 3At first, Delmont turned to Twitter. There, he shared stories of the everyday lives of African Americans he read about in black newspapers. 4That project expanded in November to become the website Black Quotidian. There, readers will find life stories of hundreds of African Americans taken from black newspapers. The stories appeared in publications between the early 1900s and the 1980s. 5The website contains copies of stories from more than 10 black newspapers, such as the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier. It also has audio recordings, pictures and videos. 6"l felt like my students were coming away from the class only thinking African American history was about these civil right(s) marches or about martyrs," Delmont said. 7"I felt like they spent so much time thinking about black death that they were losing sight of the broader complexity, really the beautiful aspects of African American history." 8The website shows African Americans who made their mark in sports, politics, the military and other areas. Among them are icons like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activist Rosa Parks. But Delmont also aims to bring attention to lesser known people. 9One of them is Juanita Blocker. She was the first black member of the Professional Women's Bowling Association. She wrote about bowling in the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper for 20 years. 10The website also tells about Claudette Colvin of Montgomery, Alabama. As a 15-year-old, she refused to give up her seat on a bus - nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. 11Delmont said, "These iconic figures are important but we need to understand the everyday people doing important things in their community." He added that he has observed a growing interest in rediscovering overlooked African Americans. 12Delmont said he hopes the website brings attention to black newspapers. He said the publications were especially important for African American communities that had recently migrated north. The newspapers described people's daily lives. They provided news of everything from politics to sports to weddings. 13Ethan Michaeli worked for the Chicago Defender and wrote a book about the newspaper. He said Delmont's website is offering a fresh look at the role these newspapers played in black communities. Many of the papers included on the website have closed or no longer print newspapers. 14Michaeli said, "I'm very excited about it as kind of serving as the bridge between the past and the present in this way." 15I'm Ashley Thompson. 16The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 17________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19martyr - n. a person who is killed or who suffers greatly for a religion, cause, etc. 20broad - adj. including or involving many things or people 21aspect - n. a part of something 22icon - n. a person who is very successful and admired 23bowling - n. a game played by rolling a large, heavy ball down a smooth floor (called a lane) towards a set of pins in order to knock down as many pins as possible 24figure - n. a person who has a specified status or who is regarded in a specified way 25role - n. a part that someone or something has in a particular activity or situation 26print - n. to cause (words, images, etc.) to appear on paper or cloth by using a machine (called a printer)