Amistad Research Center
Tuesday, August 13; 10:00 am – 11:30 am | Maximum 15, minimum 5. Preregistration required.
Contact information (for reservations and information):
Laura Thomson, Director of Processing,
Archives Behind The Scene! The Amistad Research Center in New Orleans is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most comprehensive independent archives repository of original source material on racial and ethnic history, the civil rights movement, and race relations. Amistad welcomes archival professionals for a behind the scenes tour with Amistad’s professional staff, who will provide a comprehensive tour experience covering areas of the repository’s collection management, preservation, and research functions, including highlights of progress in preservation and digitization of Amistad’s audiovisual collections. A guided tour of Amistad’s current exhibition, Through the Lens: Photographing African American Life will also be included.
Founded in 1966 as a division of the Race Relations Department of Fisk University, the Amistad Research Center traces its lineage to its namesake. On June 28, 1839, the slave ship La Amistad set sail from Havana, Cuba, headed for plantations along the Cuban coast. An onboard revolt eventually led to the ship coming ashore in the United States, where the abducted Africans were jailed and charged with piracy and murder. One of the earliest known civil rights cases taken up by a group of abolitionists, the Amistad Committee to defend the Africans, eventually took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court and procured the Africans’ freedom. The committee evolved into the interracial American Missionary Association, which went on to found hundreds of abolitionist and anti-caste churches and schools around the country. The records of the American Missionary Association are one of over 700 archives and manuscripts collections held at the Amistad Research Center.
Directions: The Amistad Research Center is located at 6823 St. Charles Avenue in the Audubon neighborhood of New Orleans’ Uptown district. The Center is housed in Tilton Memorial Hall on the campus of Tulane University. Situated on the St. Charles streetcar line, Amistad is just a few minutes from numerous restaurants in the Riverbend/Carrollton area, and is easily accessible from downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter.
Parking on St. Charles Avenue within the boundaries of Audubon Park is free. Otherwise, parking along St. Charles and side streets is limited to two hours.
For more information go to www.amistadresearchcenter.org