manosca308 Black Students Alliance Records, 1970-[ongoing] Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Yasmine Evans, Amanda Lineweber Smith College Archives
Northampton, MA
2013 Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jeanne Lowrey. 2013-04-01 Finding aid written in English Collection Overview Black Students Alliance Black Students Alliance Records 1970-[ongoing] RG 80 12 boxes (4.8 linear ft.) English Smith College Archives
Northampton, MA
Contains notebooks, correspondence, conference materials, minutes, photographs, and event fliers documenting the Black Students Alliance. Historical Note

The earliest records of the Black Students Alliance (BSA) date from 1970, when black students and faculty across the Five Colleges formed a committee to demand the inclusion of Afro-American Studies in Five College curriculums. Smith's BSA became active soon afterward, first with protests concerning the state of Afro-American Studies at Smith and then with student newsletters and events. In 1974 the BSA ran a children's fair at the Mwangi Cultural Center, then located in Lily Hall. The goal of the fair was to educate local children about black cultural heritage. The BSA's annual events have included a Black Arts Festival, Black History Observance events, cultural events such as Kwanza and musical performers, social events including parties and movie nights for both BSA members and the larger campus community. The BSA has also participated regularly in local black students' conferences. Additionally, the BSA has been partially in charge of Unity House and the Mwangi Cultural Center with the cultural center staff since its creation in the 1970s, and an active participant in planning and running Bridge, an annual pre-orientation program for students of color.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The records of the Black Students Alliance include general and officers' notebooks which contain a variety of materials, including notes, minutes, correspondence, budget sheets, event fliers, reports, and more.

The records also contain files of minutes and correspondence concerning the Mwangi Cultural Center, the Five College Executive Committee on Afro-American Studies, Smith College's Afro-American Studies Department, and the annual black student's conference. There are also a few files of BSA newsletters and other assorted correspondence.

Most of the photographs are unidentified and undated. They are mainly of various BSA members and events.

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into thirteen series:

I. HISTORY II. NOTEBOOKS III. MWANGI CULTURAL CENTER IV. AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES DEPARTMENT V. 5-COLLEGE AND INTERCOLLEGIATE VI.CONFERENCE MATERIALS VII. NEWSLETTERS VIII. EVENTS IX. GENERAL FILES, A - Z X. CLIPPINGS XI. POETRY AND LYRICS XII. PHOTOGRAPHS XIII. ARTIFACTS OVERSIZE MATERIALS

The records are open for research according to the regulations of the Smith College Archives except where noted in the finding aid.

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the documents must be requested from the Smith College Archives. Smith College owns copyright to any published material relating to college events and activities. Provenance and copyright ownership of other materials is unknown and researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Black Students Alliance Records, Box #, Smith College Archives.

The records of the Black Students Alliance were donated over a period of time to the Smith College Archives from a variety of sources.

Yasmine Evans, Class of 2013; Amanda Lineweber, Class of 2011

Series I. History 1 1 Charter n.d. 1 2 Constitution 2001 1 3 "Our Firsts" - a history of students' racial diversity at Smith College n.d. Series II. Notebooks 1 4 Executive Board Minutes 1981-82, n.d. 1 5 Executive Board Minutes 1997-98 1 6 Executive Board Minutes 2006 1 7 Executive Board Members 1985-86 1 8-9 Chair's Notebook (2 folders) 1996-97 1 10 Chair's Notebook 1998-99 1 11-15 Chair's Notebook (5 folders) 2002-03 1 16-27 Chair's Notebook (12 folders) 2003-04 2 1-6 Vice Chair's Notebook (6 folders) 1998-99 2 7-13 Vice Chair's Notebook (7 folders) 1999-2000 2 14-20 Vice Chair's Notebook (7 folders) 2004-05 2 21-22 Vice Chair's Notebook (1-2 of 7 folders) 2006-07 3 1-5 Vice Chair's Notebook (3-7 of 7 folders) 2006-07 3 6-7 Secretary's Notebook (2 folders) 1998-99 3 8 Treasurer's Notebook 1991-92 3 9-16 Treasurer's Notebook (8 folders) 1998-99 3 17-22 Treasurer's Notebook (1-6 of 10 folders) 1999-2000 4 1-4 Treasurer's Notebook (7-10 of 10 folders) 1999-2000 4 5-13 Treasurer's Notebook (9 folders) 2000-01 4 14-18 Treasurer's Notebook (1-5 of 10 folders) 2002-06 5 1-5 Treasurer's Notebook (6-10 of 10 folders) 2005-06 5 6-7 Treasurer's Notebook (2 folders) 2006-07 5 8-13 Social Chair's Notebook (6 folders) 2000-01 5 14-18 Social Chair's Notebook (1-5 of 10 folders) 2005-06 6 1-5 Social Chair's Notebook (6-10 of 10 folders) 2005-06 6 6-8 Club Notebook (3 folders) 1989-90 6 9-19 Club Notebook (11 folders) 1996-98 6 20 Club Notebook 1999-2000 6 21 Club Notebook 2005-06 6 22 Club Notebook 2007-08 7 1 Black History Observance Committee Notebook 1983-84 7 2 Ticket Seller's Notebook 1996-97 Series III. Mwangi Cultural Center 7 3 History n.d. 7 4 General information 1973, n.d. 7 5 Activities and events 1972-73, 1996-97, 2002-05 7 6 Closing/Rededication Ceremony 2002 7 7 Correspondence: Dr. Mwangi Ng'endo 1973 7 8 Correspondence: Students 1980-82 7 9 Reports 1975, 1979 7 10 Space use agreements 2002 7 11 Space use agreements 2004 7 12 Smith College Space Utilization Study 1990 7 13 Staff minutes and correspondence 1980-81 7 14-18 Unity Leader Training Notebook (4 folders) 1999-2000 Series IV. Afro-American Studies Department 7 19 History n.d. 7 20 Brochures and information packet 1970, 1982-83, n.d. 7 21 Clarification of Demands for the Department 1971 7 22 Correspondence with President Mendenhall 1973 7 23 Correspondence re: survey from Afro-American Studies Advisory Committee ca 1982 7 24 Memo: Goals for the Department 1973 7 25 Proposed Interdepartmental Major report 1969 Series V. 5-College and Intercollegiate 7 26 Correspondence: Wellesley College Black Students Union 1993 7 27 Correspondence: 5-College Presidents 1970 7 28 Interim 5-College Executive Committee on Afro-American Studies Meeting Minutes (2 folders) 1970-74 7 29 Smith-Amherst Tutorial Proposal 1970 7 30 "A Proposal for the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies (UMASS)" 1970 Series VI. Conference Materials 7 31 Correspondence 1995 7 32 Schedule 1997 7 33 Suggestions 1997 7 34 Board Information 2005 7 35-38 Correspondence (1-4 of 6 folders) 2005-06 8 1-2 Correspondence (5-6 of 6 folders) 2005-06 8 3 Checklists 2005-06 8 4 Financial Records 2005-06 8 5 Fundraising 2005-06 8 6 Minutes 2005-06 8 7 Notebook (3 folders) 2006 8 8 Panelist Information n.d. 8 9 Panel Questions 2005-06 8 10 Publicity 2005-06 8 11 Reference: "Getting Real: Black Women Taking Charge in the Fight Against AIDS" n.d. 8 12 Registration forms (3 folders) 2006 8 13 Schedule 2006 8 14 Notebook (2 folders) 2008-09 Series VII. Newsletters 8 15 Newsletter 1972 8 16 Newsletters 1983-84 8 17 Newsletters 1991-92 8 18 Newsletters 1998-99 Series VIII. Events 9 1 Black Arts Festival: general n.d. 9 2 Black Arts Festival 1978 1978 9 3 Black Arts Festival 1980 1979-80 9 4 Black Arts Festival 1981 1980-81 9 5 Black Arts Festival 1982 1981-82 9 6 Black Arts Festival 1983 1982-83 9 7 Black Arts Festival 1984 1984 9 8 Black Arts Festival 1985 1984-85 9 9 Black Arts Festival 1986 1985-86 9 10 Black Arts Festival 1987 1986-87 9 11 Black Arts Festival 1999 1999 9 12 Bridge: Pre-orientation program for students of color. See also DVD088-DVD091. 1992, 2002, 2004, 2007 9 13 Children's Fair 1984-85 9 14 Children's Workshop 1974 9 15 Cultural Expansions 1976 9 16 Family Weekend - Ada Comstock Women of Color 2009 9 Howard University Concert Choir [See V442] Spring 2002 9 17 Karma Weekend 1970 9 18 Kwanza 1983-88, 1998-2008 9 19 Ndguda Fashion Show 1971 9 20 Otelia Cromwell Day 1981-89, 1996-97, 2005 9 21 Spring Black Festival 1974 9 22 General 1979-80 9 23 General 1982-83 9 24 General 1984-85 9 25 General 1985-86 9 26 General 1994-95 9 27 General 1995-96 9 28 General 1997-98 9 29 General 1998-99 9 30 General 1999-2000 9 31 General 2000-01 9 32 General 2001-02 9 33 General 2004-05 9 34 General 2005-06 9 35 General 2006-07 9 36 General 2007-08 10 1 General 2008-09 10 5 General 2009-10 10 3 General n.d. Series IX. General Files, A-Z 11 1 Black Alumnae Newsletter 1983, 2006 11 2 Black Alumnae Weekend 1984 11 3 Black Face 2007-08 11 4 Black United Front n.d. 11 5 Budget Allocation 1980 11 6 Budget Allocation 1986-87 11 7 Budget Allocation 1990-91 11 8 Car Use Forms and Guidelines 1985 11 9 Correspondence - general 1978-86 11 10 Correspondence - general 1992 11 11 Correspondence - general 2005-09 11 12 Correspondence - BSA members 2005 11 13 Correspondence - President Dunn 1990 11 14 Correspondence - The Engravery n.d. 11 15 Correspondence - Smith College student body 1981, 1990 11 16 Correspondence - Speak Out! Internship Opportunities 1994 11 17 Dennis Brutus Defense 1981 11 18 Diplomas from engraved holders n.d. 11 19 Election Speech Notes 11 20 Entertainment Brochures (2 folders) 1974-2000, n.d. 11 21 First years letters 1973 11 22 Funding request to SGA 1996 11 23 Guest book 1993-5, n.d. 11 24 Hampshire College Course Guide Supplement 1980 11 25 History of Black Protest at Smith: A study in inevitable conflict… 1972 11 26 "I have a dream…" Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial 1986 11 27 Information booklet on BSA 2005-06 11 28 Jewish Women's Studies: An Introductory Bibliography n.d. 11 29 Letterhead n.d. 11 30 "Mathematics Performance Amongst Black Students at the University of California, Berkeley" 1985 11 31 Multicultural Development Report 1988 11 32 Nguzo Saba Testimonials and Mshumaa Lighting n.d. 11 33 An Open Letter to My Sister - anonymous n.d. 11 34 R.A.C.E. charter 1970-71 11 35 Racist notes report 1993 11 36 Speech to BSA by Monique Spyke 2001-02 11 37 St. John's Congregational Church Bulletin 1983 11 38 Survey responses ca. 2005 Series X. Clippings 11 39 Black arts clippings 1992-98 11 40 Smith College clippings 1987, 1999-2007, n.d. 11 41 Smith and the Media booklet 1984 Series XI. Poetry and Lyrics 11 42 Audre Lorde - "Coal" n.d. 11 43 Queen Latifah - "U.N.I.T.Y." n.d. 11 44 Anonymous - "Ebonics Tectonics" n.d. Series XII. Photographs 12 1 General (7 envelopes) 1969-96 12 2-7 Miscellaneous (97 envelopes) n.d. 12 8 Celebration (4 envelopes) n.d. Series XIII. Artifacts 13 3 engraved diploma holders 1993 13 8 graduation sashes 2002, 2005-06, 2009 13 Award medal decorated with diploma and cap n.d. Oversized Material FF 15 Posterboard with photos of Rosa Parks n.d. FF 15 Posterboard for Kaleidoscope of Color: Portraits of Smith Students of Color, with introduction by BSA Black Culture Chair 1995-96 1996