10/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/09/2024 10:17
This series of blogs were written by Tina L. Ligon, Supervisory Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland
This year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is celebrating the countless contributions of African Americans in the arts. The 109 year-old organization selects annual themes to showcase all aspects of Black life in America. This year's theme, African Americans and the Arts, allows for the expression of African American creativity in the areas of visual arts, poetry & literature, film, music, and comedy. The National Archives and the Presidential Libraries hold photographs, sound recordings, moving images, and textual documents of Black artists interacting with the federal agencies in areas of activism, official visits, and acknowledgement of their achievements. Today's blog highlights records from the presidential libraries.
The Kennedy Center Honor is given annually to various artists in celebration of their lifetime achievements in the performing arts. African Americans have been awarded this honor for creativity and contributing to the artistic culture of America. Notable African American recipients in music include Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Leontyne Price, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Jessye Norman, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, James Brown, Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Sonny Rollins, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Al Green, Mavis Staples, Berry Gordy, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, and Dionne Warwick.
Kennedy Center Honors recognizes African Americans in the world of dance. Black recipients include Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey, Harold Nicholas, Judith Jamison, Bill T. Jones, and Debbie Allen.
[Link]Barack Obama and Michell Obama attend the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors, December 5, 2010. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Alma Powell pose with Bill T. Jones[Link]12-4-1988 President and Nancy Reagan at the Kennedy Center Honors reception with George Burns, Sasha Schneider, Alvin Ailey, Myrna Loy and Roger Stevens in the Green RoomBlack performers on both the stage and the screen have received the Kennedy Center Honors. Many of the recipients were triple threats, they could sing, dance, and act. These performers include Lena Horne, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, James Earl Jones, Jr., Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Morgan Freeman, Oprah Winfrey, and Cicely Tyson.
[Link]Barack Obama and Michelle Obama attend the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors, December 5, 2010[Link]12-4-1988 Cicely Tyson, Kathleen Turner, Hal Holbrook, George Bush, Roddy McDowall, Bob Hope John Denver Kennedy Center Honors at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC