11 feb 1968 & negro history week begins

#OTD Sunday 11 February 1968 Negro History Week officially began in DC! and it was a big deal. A wide range of institutions organized and publicized events. 

The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (2405 Nichols Ave, SE), directed by John Kinard, started the week with "The Opening of Exhibits on NEGRO HISTORY." The exhibition featured 30 portraits of "outstanding Negro Americans." The Harmon Collection portraits were on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.  

Ralph Green and Ernest Lewis were two of the hundreds of students who visited the exhibit on Sunday. The portraits they viewed included Marian Anderson, Ralph Bunche, William A. Campbell, William H. Hastie, Joe Louis, Hugh H. Mulzac, Frederick Patterson and Edith S. Sampson. There was also a separate exhibit on Benjamin Banneker. 

Also on Sunday, 1500+ teachers attended two performances of "The Believers: The Black Experience in Soul," a musical dramatization written by playwrights Josephine Jackson and Joseph A. Walker. It was hosted by the National Education Association. 

Researched & written by Ally Laubscher.

Please comment below. Did you visit the exhibit ? Did you visit the museum in its first few months? Were you a member of the museum? Did you go to the musical? You may comment privately here.

Photo source: Museum News October 1968, National Gallery of Art, Evan Tibbs Collection, Subject Files, DC Art News, 1968-1986.
Bernadette Cary, "Negro History Week Opens," Washington Post 12 February 1968.
Glenda Dickerson, African American Theater: A Cultural Companion.