Posted Date: July 2, 2008

NSU and Newsome House Form Chapter of Black History Association

   NEWPORT NEWS—The Newsome House Museum & Cultural Center has partnered with Norfolk State University to start the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
During a recent meeting at Norfolk State University, the two took the lead in organizing the first Hampton Roads Branch of ASALH which has its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Each year, ASALH issues the annual national theme for the observance of Black History Month in February.
    ASALH Inc., founded September 9, 1915 and incorporated October 3, 1915, under the laws of the District of Columbia, as a non-profit, tax-exempt professional organization.
    Its founder, the late Carter G. Woodson, was a Harvard-trained scholar and international educator who was the son of former slaves.
    Woodson, like W.E.B. DuBois, realized early on the important role of the African American in the history of the U.S. and world and committed his life to research on the African American past and to the dissemination of knowledge about the African American in the new world. His dream for ASALH was to archive sociological and historical data, publish books, promote the study of African-American life and history and encourage racial harmony through the organization and work of clubs and schools.
    In 1916, ASALH published the first issue of the "Journal of Negro History", a highly respected and scholarly digest which was followed by the "Negro History Bulletin", a widely circulated historically oriented magazine.  
Information about the local chapter of ASALH and upcoming meetings can be obtained by contacting the Newsome House (757) 247-2360 or the History Department at Norfolk State University, (757) 823-2267.

 

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