Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

217 c   (HISTORY.) Notes taken by a viewer of the pioneering documentary series “Black Heritage: A History of Afro-Americans.” [197] manuscript pages on loose sheets of Plaza stationery; minimal wear. Housed between two sheets of cardboard backed with packing tape (minor wear) with manuscript captions.With a mounted 25 January 1969 newspaper clip- ping of a review by RoyWilkins from the NewYork Post. NewYork, 7 January to 22 April 1969 [400/600] “Black Heritage:A History of Afro-Americans” was one of the first efforts to bring this history to a network television audience. It was put together by an advisory board based at Columbia University and led by Spel- man College historianVincent Harding (a friend of Martin Luther King), who hosted many of the episodes. It was aired by the NewYork affiliate of CBS.The program debuted on 7 January 1969, running in the 9 a.m. time-slot. After its 108 daily episodes were aired in the NewYork area, it went into syndication with dozens of CBS affiliates across the country starting in May.The show attracted national attention and some controversy. NAACP leader RoyWilkins denounced it as “a plea for black separation.” We don’t know who kept the notes offered in this lot, but it was apparently a viewer with a deep interest in the subject.They begin with the first episode on 7 January, and continue with notes on more than 40 other episodes—nearly half of the episodes which were aired. A typical day’s notes fill two to five pages with the episode’s key facts and themes.Was this diligent note-taker a student? An historian? A critic? It’s difficult to say.The notes are taken on the letterhead of Manhattan’s posh Plaza Hotel.You can imagine, if you wish, someone locked up in a luxury suite, binge-watching black history for three month straight—or perhaps it was a hotel worker who walked out with a ream of letterhead after giving their two-week notice? In any event, these notes may be of historical interest themselves, as we’ve only traced reels of the show’s inaugural episode in OCLC, and have found none onYouTube. It’s possible that these notes are all that remain of some episodes of this important program. 218 c   (HISTORY.) Pair of pins com- memorating the 75th anniversary of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Pinback but- tons, 1 inch and 1 3 / 4 inches; minor wear, light rust on verso. St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Button Company, [1962] [250/350] Mound Bayou was founded as an all-Afri- can-American community in 1887 on a tract of wilderness land in northwestern Mississippi. The town still bills itself as “the oldest U.S. all black municipality.” The smaller of these pins commem- orates the founder Isaiah T. Montgomery, with his portrait. The larger pin reads “75th Anniversary of the Founding of Mound Bayou, Miss.” and depicts Montgomery with his co-founder B.T. Green. 218 HISTORY LOTS 217 - 221