Abraham Joseph, a driving school owner from Haiti, talked about his family, including his siblings, his parents who were farmers, and his children; walking to school; the village, Gros-Morne, where he lived in Haiti; and working as a carpenter in Haiti and the Bahamas before immigrating to the United States in 1980 because he had a fear of Tonton Macoute. He explained the power of Tonton Macoute, including the time his brother was arrested.
Joseph described traveling on a little boat from Haiti to the Bahamas and then to Miami; moving to Washington, DC because his fiancée, who he met in the Bahamas, lived in DC with her relatives; and his reaction to seeing snow for the first time in Washington, DC.
Joseph detailed the challenges of working as a porter, his first job in Washington, DC. He explained his decision to become a taxi driver and how he accomplished his goal; how he helped others from all over the world learn how to drive; why he opened a driving school, called AB Discount Driving School; and the challenges of running a business and securing insurance for the driving school.
Abraham Joseph was interviewed by Tamara Brown on July 26, 1994. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include very loud white noise, static, and background noise; interviewee can be heard clearly for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Alex Bruks, co-owner of Bruks International Market, spoke about the origin and history of Bruks International Market, which opened in 1990; the products, including imported grocery items from Africa and the Caribbean, sold in the market; demographics of his customers; how the store came to be located in Takoma Park, Maryland; his employees; and future plans.
Bruks also spoke about the town where he was born and his school experience in Ghana; his extensive work experience in the agriculture, poultry, and meat industries; his migration to the United States in 1975; his higher education experience in Indiana and Ohio; his family; his decision to become a United States citizen; Ghanaian government policies; the African and Caribbean communities in Washington, DC; and festivities or ceremonies when introducing newly born child to the community, including the food served, and Ashanti cultural dances and clothing.
Alex Bruks was interviewed by Peggy Fleming and Grace Taylor at Bruks International Market in Takoma Park, Maryland on May 28, 1993. Interview is in English; Bruks spoke briefly to a customer in Ashanti. Digital audio files include white noise and static, and background noise throughout entire interview. Interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Mahama Bawa spoke about the origin and purpose of his African clothing store, Kobos, located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. He explained why he choose to sell African clothing; his passion for African culture, and his work selling African clothing and accessories; the impact of his store and work on the community; the African American community's acceptance of the store; and little support from the Ghanaian and West African community. Bawa also spoke about resources to learn African languages, Kwanzaa, his future plans, his wife and daughters, the meaning of African names, and the uses of Kente cloth and Kente cloth patterns.
Bawa spoke about his educational experience, his parents, his family's West African ancestry, and being raised within his culture and living his culture, including African values. He also briefly spoke about his migration to the United States from Ghana, working in the foreign office of Ghana, coming to the US on professional training within the field of foreign affairs, and teaching African studies at American University.
Bawa described in detail jewelry, clothing, and other items sold in his store. The descriptions included what country the items are from, the materials the items are made of, how made they are made, and the ethnic and cultural history of the items. Bawa explained how he chooses the merchandise for the store, including working with small scale designers and tailors in West Africa, and African artisans located in Washington, DC.
Customers spoke about why they visit the store, supporting African businesses, their families, and where they are from. Description and explanation of Kente cloth, cultural insensitivity, body politics, clothing as communication, and languages and dialects in Ghana were also discussed during these customer interviews. The recording also captured the atmosphere of the store, including the music played in the store and Bawa interacting with customers.
Mahama Bawa and customers were interviewed by Ebow Ansah. Interviews are in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static; loud buzzing sound during a portion of interview; and background noise. Interviewees' voices are intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Cedric Lynch, an assistant principal at a public school, spoke about his parents, who were farmers and self-employed, and his siblings; his mother and Jamaican mothers as the disciplinarians in the family; the importance of religion to his family; Bob Marley, the evolution of reggae music, and dancehall music; legacy of Marcus Garvey; Caribbean and Jamaican cuisine; Rastafarianism; and where he worked before leaving Jamaica to attend Howard University.
Lynch detailed his experience as a student at Howard University and as a public school teacher, including how he disciplined students and what he would change about Washington, DC public schools and the educational system. He talked about Jamaican and Caribbean students adjusting to the American school system, the challenges the students face in school, and academic work differences between Jamaica and Washington, DC.
Lynch also talked about his book, which documented the evolution of Caribbean immigrant organizations; the importance of Jamaican organizations to Jamaicans in the US and Jamaica; immigration challenges and his decision to become a US citizen; why Jamaicans tend to be self-employed and/or business owners; Jamaican women as domestic workers; use of the partner system instead of United States banking system by many Jamaicans; importance of identity; Jamaicans reluctance to share information about themselves; Jamaican posses; and how Jamaicans are stereotyped.
Interview is in English. Digital audio files include very loud white noise and static; interviewee can be heard for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Kobina Ansah spoke about his large family, many with a variety of artistic inclinations; his educational experience; his early jobs in radio and film industries in Ghana; why he migrated to the United States; an encounter with the police not long after he arrived in Washington, DC; and his expectations about the United States prior to arriving in the US.
Ansah spoke about why he began silkscreen printing and making tee shirts; expressing his creative and writing ideas, including political statements, on tee shirts; limiting his business to the African market; specific statements, related to African culture and what is happening in Africa, written on his tee shirts; contract work for Ghanaian and African groups; his relationship with customers; and the quality of his work.
Ansah explained the popularity of tee shirts in Ghana; the reaction of Ghanaians in Ghana to his tee shirts; his design and screen printing process, in detail; why he wants to return to the film industry in some capacity; and the conditions that would need to change for him to return to Ghana. He expressed his thoughts about Ghanaian and African organizations and institutions in the Washington, DC; and why Ghanaians leave Ghana.
Ansah spoke about the film industry in Ghana and why African films are not being shown in western countries; the concerns Ghanaians have about their family members living in Washington, DC because of the violence; his perception of the violence; and his thoughts about guns and weapons.
Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static. Interviewee's voice is intelligible.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Joseph Ankoma Dadzie, managing director of First African Forex Bureau, spoke about his migration to the United States in 1980; his higher education experience in the United States; his decision to go into the money transfer / foreign exchange business; and the founding and growth of his business. He explained he and his brother were the first to transfer money to Ghana, how they earned trust within the Ghanaian community, and the challenges and solutions sending money and communicating with people and institutions in Ghana.
Dadzie also spoke about the support he received from Ghanaian associations and organizations, and Ghanaian community; Ghanaians securing housing and property in Ghana; helping Ghanaians with their monetary goals and development in Ghana; the importance of transferring money to Ghanaians in Ghana; the rural banking system in Ghana and how to help Ghanaian rural communities with their banking and monetary needs; the economic situation in Ghana; the Ghanaian government's awareness of the Forex Bureau; the importance of Ghanaian societies and associations in Washington, DC; his involvement with the Ghanaian community in the Washington, DC; his parents and siblings; and his future plans.
Joseph Ankoma Dadzie, also known as Kofi Ankoma Dadzie, was interviewed by Ebow Ansah. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static. Interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Ralma Blake spoke of his childhood in Jamaica; his parents and the disciplinarian in the family; his siblings; the music he grew up on, mainly mento; and stories his parents told him. He also spoke of his migration to the United States, things that surprised him upon his arrival in the US, his first jobs, and communicating with family and friends in Jamaica. Note, Blake has dual citizenship in Jamaica and the United States.
Blake spoke about his children, born in Jamaica and raised in the United States; instilling Jamaican culture in his children; raising and disciplining his children; family meals and saying grace; and the importance of family, and maintaining and passing down Jamaican culture and heritage. Blake discussed maintaining Jamaican culture, including visiting other Jamaicans, holidays, traditions, and language, specifically Patois; Jamaicans, particularly children, being ridiculed for how they speak; and greetings and addressing people.
Blake detailed the opening and managing of a West Indian, Caribbean, African food store called Carnation Market; how his store was a community space for people to gather; building and supporting Jamaican community, including popularizing Jamaican coffee and employing Jamaicans; how the community has changed; popular Jamaican food items in his store; why ackee is illegal in the United States; and the possible future of his family owned store.
Blake also spoke about the media's perception of Jamaicans; Marcus Garvey; visiting Jamaica and what he brings back to the US with him; his nicknames; his record collection; how Jamaican and Rastafarian communities influence people in the US; Jamaicans as entrepreneurs; future of the Jamaican community; and his intention to move back to Jamaica.
Ralma Blake was interviewed by Ann A. Walters. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static, some sound interferences and distortions, and some background noise. Interviewee's voice is intelligible for the most part.
General:
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Primarily documents the business activities of Uniworld Group, Incorporated through sales reports, articles, meeting notes, investor agreements, booklets, magazine articles, memoranda, and correspondence. Marketing and publicity materials created by the company for clients such as Ebony Magazine; American Telephone & Telegraph, Incorporated (AT&T); Eastman Kodak; Colgate-Palmolive Company; BINGWA; Nutrament; TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Incorporated; Kraft Foods; the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Incorporated (MGM) 1971 film Shaft, and the American Black Film Festival are also found among these materials. UniWorld Group, Incorporated, (UWG) employee David Dilgrim's file of print advertisements from campaigns dating from 1997-2008 serves as examples of work during that period. A small amount of material relating to businesspeople and community leaders including Caroline Jones, Black marketing agency owner; Mason B. Starring, original investor in UniWorld Group, Incorporated; Felix Kent, UniWorld Group, Incorporated's (UWG) chief legal counsel; and Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister are also included. In addition, information relating to marketing summits and councils that worked with UniWorld Group, Incorporated (UWG) forms a small part of this group of materials.
The value in this group of materials is in its documentation of the growth of UniWorld Group, Incorporated (UWG) from its creation in 1969 through periods of economic growth and instability. Relevant materials relating to stock buybacks in the late 1980s and the role of investors in the company are also included. Employee experiences are documented in profile articles of the company from publications including the New York Times and Advertising Age. These materials also provide significant insight into the strategies UniWorld Group, Incorporated (UWG) used to increase Black and Hispanic consumer interest and their marketing campaigns through detailed campaign pitches and press relations kits. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Byron Lewis Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Include programs, schedules, notes, photographs, and printed slide shows from a variety of events that Lewis attended. Such events include the National Black Political Convention, the Oakland Film Festival, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated Centennial Celebration, and others. These materials provide insight into the network of creators, businesspeople, artists, and advocates Lewis was connected to and the cultural activism in which he participated. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Byron Lewis Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Documents the personal life of Byron Lewis and his leadership of UniWorld Group, Incorporated, the multicultural marketing agency founded by him in 1969. Through report cards and reproductions of high school yearbooks the earliest materials relate to a childhood in New York and higher education at Long Island University (LIU) centered around involvement in vocal and musical arts. Biographical information about his professional career is included in profiles published in popular African American magazines such as Ebony and Jet; resumes, programs, an oral interview, and a press release announcing his retirement. Other documents include family genealogies, greeting cards, a program from his mother's funeral, and materials from his wedding to Sylvia Isabel in 2011. The materials provide significant insight into the life and experiences of Lewis, the challenges he faced as he built a business focused on Black consumers, and the network of Black businesspeople he connected with in New York City and across the United States. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Byron Lewis Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
This collection consists of materials documenting the Castor Advertising Corporation, Castor SG&B, and Castor Spanish International, which specialized in reaching Hispanic audiences.
Content Description:
Archival materials documenting the Castor Advertising Corporation, Castor SG&B, and Castor Spanish International. This collection includes correspondence, business records, awards, a copy of Fernández's MBA thesis, photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, a DVD containing an interview with Fernández, and advertising reels recorded on VHS tapes, cassettes, and 16mm film.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Background Materials, 1961-2001, 2018
Series 2: Advertising Materials, 1969-1987
Series 3: Newspaper Clippings and Publications, 1968-2000
Series 4: Audiovisual Materials, 1960-2007
Biographical / Historical:
Castor A. Fernández Capote was born in 1943 in Havana, Cuba and moved to the United States in 1961. Fernández first lived in Miami, Florida but moved to New York City soon after. He attended City College of New York where he received his Bachelor and Master of Business Administration in Marketing. For his MBA thesis, "Market Segmentation through Television Advertising," Fernandéz focused his research on the potential for Spanish-language media to engage the Spanish-speaking market of New York. Fernández began his nearly four-decade-long advertising career in firms throughout New York City such as Link Advertising and Palmer Advertising. In 1968, Fernández established his own advertising firm called Castor Spanish International, focusing specifically on marketing designed for to the multiple groups of people described under the umbrella term "Hispanic." In 1989, Castor Spanish International merged with the Miami-based advertising corporation, Garcia-Serra & Blanco Advertising, to form a new agency: Castor SG&B. The agency dissolved the merger in 1990 and Fernández established Castor Advertising Corporation. Fernández retired from advertising in 2002. Throughout his decades-long career, he and his agencies did work for many major American corporations such as Café Bustelo, Citibank, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Kmart, Richardson-Vicks, and Heublein Incorporated.
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center in 2018 by Castor Fernández.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Meyer and Vivian Potamkin, 2001 Feb. 12. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews Search this
Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Eli Broad, 2012 Jan. 30-April 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
