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JCSU to host exhibit on African-American philanthropy
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/07/23/5062379/jcsu-to-host-exhibit-on-african.html
By Emma Baccellieri
[email protected]
Posted: Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2014
A $100,000 grant will allow Johnson
C. Smith University to create a traveling exhibit to showcase
African-American philanthropy.
The money comes from the Institute of
Museum and Library Services and will fund �Giving Back: The Soul of
Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited.� For two years beginning in 2015,
the exhibit will be shared with historically black colleges and
universities and cultural institutions throughout the South.
The
exhibition will use photographs and stories from Valaida Fullwood�s 2011
book �Giving Back: a Tribute to Generations of African-American
Philanthropy.� Narratives of African-American giving are often
underrepresented, Fullwood said, and the exhibit offers a chance to
illuminate stories that otherwise would not be told.
�We aren�t part
of the national discourse around philanthropy, and when we are, it�s as
the beneficiaries and recipients and people in need,� Fullwood said.
�That�s part of the story, but there�s a fuller, richer, wider story
beyond that.�
The exhibit will be organized by JCSU�s James B. Duke
Memorial Library. In addition to stories, photographs and multimedia
components, it will include community programming that encourages people
to share their own stories of philanthropy and learn about new ways to
give, Fullwood said.
The exhibit will focus on the stories of regular
people, showing that not only the rich or famous can be philanthropic,
said Monika Rhue, director of library services for JCSU.
�I call them
little heroes � people who give in their church, who give at work. Those
stories are always hidden,� Rhue said. �This project will shed light on
those ordinary people.�
Fullwood and JCSU began speaking about the
possibility of an exhibit last year, and the university is operating
under �an aggressive timeline� to have the exhibit completed by early
2015, Rhue said.
From the time she began working on the book,
Fullwood said, she knew that a museum exhibition would be an effective
way to spread its message � �to take it off the pages of the book and
into the community.�
Fullwood noted that although the exhibit shows
African-American philanthropy specifically, the message is accessible to
everyone and can inspire anyone to be more giving.
�While our
exhibition focuses on philanthropy through the experience and lens of
African-Americans, the stories and the impact of the philanthropy
transcend race and generation and socioeconomic level,� Fullwood said.