M arch 1, 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver
P age B8
BLACK HISTORY
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MW
All Blood Runs Red
African American Museum Needs Objects
The Museum o f African Amer
ican History in Detroit is expanding
and in 1996 will be the largest black
historical museum in the world.
The museum is currently seek
ing objects for the new m useum 's
permanent exhibition which will
trace all aspects o f the Diaspora:
The African experience, enslave
ment, freedom m igration, black
pride, and the African American
experience as it exists today.
O bjects needed include: Human
cargo lists, slave shackles and tags,
African art, information on the un
derground railroad, news articles on
escaped slaves to memorabi I ta o f the
civil rights movement
The new museum will be four
times the size o f the current facility
and will be on the cutting edge o f
modem technology.
“Our goal is to not only be the
largest black cultural and historical
center, but to also be the best,” said
Kimberly Camp, executive direc
tor. “ People keep a lot o f history
and culture in their attics, we would
like to expose everyone to it.”
For a complete listing o f need
ed articles or for more information,
contact Emanuel Cooper, curator o f
exhibitions at 313-833-9800.
Above: Between the wars Bullard had
several jobs, including managing a
nightclub called Le Grand-Due, where
he made himself at home.
Right: His great-grandson stands with a
1986 portrait commissioned for a
dormitory named in Bullard's honor at
Gunter Air Force Base in Alabama.
Continued from B
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there through the clogged roads
He reached the city on June 15,
went immediately to the temporary
barracks o f the 51 st, and asked for
the commanding officer. To Bullard's
astonishment this turned out to be
Maj. Roger Bader, an old comrade
from the 170th whom he had last
seen at Verdun a quarter century
earlier. Bader assigned Bullard to a
machine-gun company that made a
stand on the banks o f the Loire and
checked the Germans until heavy
artillery could be brought up. The
Bullard’s unit retreated to the nearby
town o f LeBlanc, which was already
under German shell fire. While run
ning across the street carry ing a light
machine gun, Bullard was struck by
shrapnel and thrown into a wall, dam
aging his spine. Same shell killed
eleven o f his comrades and wounded
sixteen other.
With the unit in danger o f being
captured, Bader gave Bullard a safe-
conduct pass and told him to get
away: The Germans would surely
execute a black foreigner who had
fought against them in two wars.
Bullard made for Biarritz, on
the Spanish border. He arrived there
in the middle o f the night o f June 22
and immediately joined the line that
already formed at the consulate.
Consul G eneral M cW illiam s
told Bullard to shed his telltale uni
form, and other Americans waiting
to see Me W illaims gave him clothes.
One smalI boy asked his father, “ Dad
World War II welders construct the liberty ship SS George Washington Carver. (From Black Women in
American: An Historical Encyclopedia)
Sisters In Historic Schools Case To Speak
Two sisters who were school
children during the historic Brown
vs. Board o f Education case will
speak next week at Oregon State
University as part o f Black History
Month.
Linda Brown Thompson and
C heryl Brow n H enderson will
chronicle the history o f their fami
ly’s court battle, its impact on edu
cation and the civil rights m ove
ment.
They also plan to talk about the
principles o f diversity and open-
mindedness in anon-confrontational
forum.
T he sessio n is free and w ill
tak e p lace T u esd ay at 7 p.m . at
the O SU M em orial U nion Lounge
in C o r v a llis , 2 6 th S tre e t and
Je ffe rso n W ay.
Thompson and Henderson were
thrust into the national spotlight in
1950 when their father - Topeka,
Kan. minister Oliver Brown - thought
it was unjust that his 7-year-old
daughter Linda traveled across town
to school rather than attend an ele
mentary school four blocks away
just because her skin was black.
A May 17, 1954, decision by
the Supreme Court o f the United
States against the Board o f Educa
tion o f Topeka, Kan. held that sep
arate but equal is unjust and uncon
stitutional.
The sisters have established the
Brown Foundation for Educational
Equity, Excellence and Research,
which supports education improve
ment efforts throughout the United
States.
From President William J. Clinton
Warm greetings to everyone
celebrating African American
History Month, 1995.
Hillary' and I join you in mark
ing the brave efforts o f the countless
Americans throughout our nation's
history who have demandedjustice,
declared an end to segregation, and
fought to ensure that every individ
ual has the opportunity to build a
brighter future fo r themselves and
their families.
Today, there is a renewed sense
o f hope in America — a hope based
on the idea that our great diversity
can unite rather than divide our
society. It is the same hope that has
inspired African Americans since
our country’s beginnings to dream
o f a nation in which all people enjoy
the freedom to make their own last
ing contributions to our world. If we
are truly to build on history' ’s rich
lessons, we must always remember
these p io n eers’ pivotal roles in
American history.
Ours can be u land o f unprece
dented peace and prosperity in the
twenty-first century if we have the
fuith that Martin Luther King de-
scribed, the faith to “transform the
jangling discords o f our nation into
a beautiful symphony o f brother
hood. ” He must never cease striv
ing to bring people together across
racial and cultural barriers. This is
our generation's most solemn call
ing and most important challenge.
I urge everyone, during A f
rican am erican H istory Month
and throu gh out the yea r, to take
up this ch allen ge an d to learn
m ore about the black A m ericans
who h ave m ade th is co u n try
great.
dy, can 1 gave the nigger my beret?”
Bullard made his way safely to Lisbon
and sailed for New York, where he
arrived at the end o f July 1940. He
had not seen his native land in almost
three decades.
Immediately upon arriving he
was rudely reminded that America
had hardly changed The New York
commandant o f the American Le
gion post obtained hotel rooms for
all American soldiers on the ship
except Bullard: ' 3ullard, 1 haven’t
got any reservation for you. I didn’t
know you were with the group.” He
got some cheap rooms in Harlem and
found odd jobs there. Within a year
his daughters were able to join him.
His back injury made many jobs im
possible, but he found work travel
ing about New York state selling
perfume.
Between 19 4 7 and 1954 Bullard
returned to France several times,
seeking compensation for the loss o f
his property . He finally received some
in 1954-not very much but enough to
help him settle into a small Harlem
apartment. His last job was as an
elevator operator in the RCA Build
ing. In this capacity he met Dave
Garroway and became a guest on
“The Today Show.”
America never honored its na
tive son, but France never cased to.
In 1954 the French government chose
Bullard to be one o f the men to
relight the eternal flame over the
grave o f the unknown soldier at the
Arc de Triomphe. In 1959 he was
made a chevalier in the Legion of
Honor, and when President Charles
de Gaulle visited New York the next
year, Bullard was invited to the re
ception. He attended in his legion
naire uniform. As the meeting was
ending, de G aulle came over to
Bullard and hugged him. And the
year after that, as Bullard lay dying,
French military officials frequently
brought gifts and greetings to his
bedside in the Metropolitan Hospi
tal.
Bullard died a few days after his
sixty-seventh birthday. The French
military conducted honorary servic
es, and he was buried according to
his instructions in a French legion
naire uniform, in grave no. 7, section
C, plot 53 o f the Federation o f French
war Veterans Cemetery in Flushing,
New York.
When he was awarded the Le
gion o f Honor, Bullard had tried to
explain his feelings about his two
countries: “The United States is my
mother and I love my mother, but as
far as France is concerned, she is my
mistress and you love your mistress
more than you love your mother-but
in a different way.”
T h ro u g h o u t his painful days
in M etropolitan H ospital, Eugene
B ullard had k ep t his spirits up
like the fig h te r he w as. W hen he
began g a sp in g in his final m o
m ents, a co m p an io n sittin g w ith
him rose to get a d o cto r. K now
ing it w as p o in tle s s , B u lla rd
grab b ed her hand and stopped
her. Then he spoke his last w ords:
“ I t’s b eau tifu l o v e r th e re .”
Frederick Douglass: W hen The Lion Wrote History
WETA, Washington, D C. and
ROJA Productions created the first
com prehensive film biography o f
Frederick Douglass, former slave,
renowned orator, fiery abolitionist,
newspaper journalist and publisher,
diplomat and outspoken advocate o f
voting rights for women.
Frederick Douglass: When The
Lion Wrote History - produced and
director by veteran filmmaker O r
lando Bagwell (Malcom X: Make It
Plain. Eyes On the Prize) - is a 90
minute documentary which aired last
fall on public broadcasting stations.
V ideotape copies can be obtained by
calling 1-800-328-4127.
The film combines archival pho
tos and images, interviews with schol
ars and other expects and live-action
cinematography o f locations from
Douglass' life
Sitescovered include Baltimore,
Md; New Bedford. Mass Rochester,
N.Y., Nantucket Island, Mass., the
antebellum Wye House Plantation
on M aryland's eastern shore, and
Douglass’ last home, Cedar Hill in
W ashington. D C.
Douglass was one o f the few
men present at the first w om en's
rights convention in America and
had a special relationship with many
o f the women in the suffrage move
ment.
In 1881, P re sid e n t Jam es
G arfield appointed Douglass the
Recorder o f Deeds for the District o f
Columbia. He was appointed Minis
ter Resident and Consul General to
Haiti by President Benjamin Harrison
on July 1, 1889
He died o f a heart attack on Feb.
20, 1895, after attending a session o f
the National Council o f Women. A
period o f national mourning was de
clared and he was buried at Mount
Hope Cemetery in Rochester
Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became an outspoken, eloquent
advocate for the equality for African Americans, with friends in Haiti during
Douglass' tenure as U S. ambassador.
Frederick Douglass
A n n iv e r s a ry
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