Frankye Adams-Johnson is a former English Professor at Jackson State University and former active member of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in New York City, where she served as an officer in the New York State Chapter. This collection, created or collected during her involvement in the Black Panther Party, consists of personal journal notebooks, correspondence, newspaper articles, fliers, meeting documents, and a selection of political and movement buttons.
Robert Clark served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1968 to 2004 and was the first African American member of the Mississippi Legislature since Reconstruction in 1894. This oral history collection focuses on life and career of Rep. Clark who became one of the most influential African American politicians in 20th Century Mississippi Politics. In 1967, he was elected to the State House of Representatives and served as the Speaker Pro Tempore. Along with interviews with Clark himself and those close to him, the collection also contains papers, documents, and campaign items.
William D. Lamson was an architect, planner, and demographic analyst who worked on court cases involving school desegregation, voting rights, housing discrimination, and judicial redistricting. This collection consists of case files and maps he used as an ACLU expert witness in the Brown III case, a follow-up litigation to Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954) addressing resegregation issues.
Affectionately known as the “Black Mecca of Mississippi,” the Farish Street Historic District served as a vibrant Black business and residential district from the Reconstruction era through the Civil Rights Movement. By the mid-twentieth century, the district flourished economically and socially due to Black-owned businesses, medical practices, entertainment venues, and service providers. This oral history project documents the history of one of the city’s oldest Black neighborhoods, and includes interview transcripts, photographs, and related materials.
Wilson is a jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She majored in mass communications at Jackson State University and her celebrated career includes two Grammy Awards.
Regarded as one of the greatest football players ever, Walter “Sweetness” Payton is the National Football League’s (NFL) second all-time leading rusher and a Hall of Fame inductee. From 1971 to 1975, he played for Jackson State University and revolutionized the running back position.
Earning his bachelor’s degree at Tougaloo College, where he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement, and his master’s at Jackson State University, Bennie Thompson was elected as the U.S. Representative for Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district in 1993.
The Margaret Walker Center preserves a crucial part of American history, curating a body of knowledge about people, places, and their lived experiences through the documents and materials they left behind. As a writer, intellectual, and visionary, Margaret Walker, the Center’s founder and navigator, recognized that not having control over one’s history could no longer be an option.Dr. Maryemma Graham
Clark Atlanta University
Florida A&M University
Texas Southern
University
Tuskeegee
University