Celebrating Fayetteville’s Black History

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A portrait of a volunteer with Arkansas St. Francis House, which aids those in poverty, from the 1980s by Fayetteville photographer and artist Andrew Kilgore. Kilgore will be unveiling his first portion of portraits from his current project of photographing African-American men in the United States at the Feb. 22 event.

After several weeks of programs and events about the African-American experience in Fayetteville, a final celebration is planned to commence Feb. 22 at St. James Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

The Compassion Fayetteville event, which is dedicated to celebrating Fayetteville’s black history and “Bringing the past to the present through empathy” will feature several artistic presentations and speakers from the community. Also, St. James makes for a fitting setting, as the historic first black Baptist church in Fayetteville is in its 150th year.

D’Andre Jones, a member of the Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council’s Inclusion Group and organizer of the event, will start the event after performances by the St. James choir and Theresa Daniel. Jones said he is looking forward to continue discussing the rich history and lives of African-Americans in Fayetteville.

“I love the history of African-Americans in Fayetteville, and I love to talk to people about what is happening now in Fayetteville and how it’s a very inclusive, thriving community for all,” Jones said, in anticipation of the event. “It’s not a perfect community, but every attempt is made to include everyone. We’re looking to awaken empathy.”

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan as well as UA Chancellor David Gearhart will also be in attendance, to say a few remarks on behalf of the City of Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas. Danielle Wood, director of the UA Equal opportunity and compliance office, will be the emcee for the event and will lead the discussion.

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Pictured in the painting by Dee Dee Lamb, the Henderson School for black students was the first public school in Arkansas, built in 1868. Lamb will present several paintings of her own and those she has collected about African-Americans from the 1800s.

One of the major highlights of black history in Fayetteville is its peaceful high school integration in 1954. Fayetteville High School is noted as being one of the first public schools in the South to integrate.

Historically, four days after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954, the Fayetteville School Board voted to begin integration of the high school at the beginning of the next fall semester. The board voted to start with high school age students and then integrate junior high grades one class per year, according to Andrew Brill’s “Brown in Fayetteville: Peaceful Southern School Integration in 1954.”

During segregation, black Fayetteville students attended the Henderson School until the Lincoln School — which both only had schooling through 9th grade — was built in 1936. The Henderson building still exists today, but has since been reformed into a residence. The woman who resides there now, Dee Dee Lamb — who is a former member of the Washington County Historical Society — will be presenting a collection of paintings of African-American life in the 1800s at Sunday’s event.

“Each painting that I am sharing has a significant point to celebrate this Black History Month. The most significant one to me is the Henderson School, formerly called Mission school,” Lamb said. “I have met and interviewed four of the former last-known students who attended Henderson School, and I found they each had a persistent spirit for their education.”

Following Lamb’s presentation will be an open conversation facilitated by local artist and photographer, Andrew Kilgore. Kilgore has been a portrait photographer since 1970, and has taken portraits of Daisy Bates and fromer president Bill Clinton, as well as people from all walks of life. He is currently undertaking a photo project about African-American men in the United States, and he will be presenting the first “chapter” of his portraits on Sunday.

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Taken from the first integrated football team of Fayetteville High School in 1955, Joe Manuel (center left) is pictured among his white teammates.

“It has to do with the paradox that underlies what it means to be a person,” Kilgore said. “On the one hand, it seems that we’re all different from one another. On the other hand it seems that we’re all the same. Somehow, in order to understand what it all means to be a human being, a person, you have to be able to hold both of those understandings at the same time. It seems to me for the African-American male in our society that paradox becomes particularly powerful and poignant and important.”

The first portion will feature African-American men who currently reside in Fayetteville. Committee members of Compassion Fayetteville assisted with helping Kilgore find portrait subjects.

“Of all the major demographic groups in our country today it seems that African-American men are the most at risk and the most unjustly at risk,” Kilgore said. “What my work is about is creating empathy. So I hope that this work will be part of the conversation about how we can have a more open and appropriate understanding of what it really means to be an African-American man in our society.”

Sunday will also be when Kilgore and Jones announce the planned documentary, “Let There Be Light —100 African American Men.” The documentary will feature the lives of the 100 men from various backgrounds. Jones also plans to publish a book about the lives of the men to go along with the photos and documentary, he said.

After presenting the portraits, Kilgore will then lead a discussion where attendees are invited to comment, discuss, and share stories and reflections.

Afterwards, there will be final remarks by St. James pastor Curtiss Smith, and a reception with cake and punch will follow for attendees to mingle and observe Lamb and Kilgore’s work.

Out of all 75,602 Fayetteville residents, 5,286, or 7 percent are black according to 2013 U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Statewide, African-Americans make up 16.2 percent of Arkansas’ population. Additionally, on the national level, 13.6 percent of U.S. citizens are black, according to census data.

With the month’s black history events coming to a close, both Jones and Pattie Williams, co-founder of Compassion Fayetteville, have been satisfied about the turn out and engagement at the events.

“It’s been better than I could have ever thought,” Jones said. “People are talking and it’s a good conversation. It’s exactly what we wanted. Other people have come and said “Hey, we want to join in.” It exceeded what I thought it could be.”

Williams said she hopes to see the inclusive, positive energy from the conversations at the month’s events continue into next month.