Black Man's Burden: William Holtzclaw and the Mississippi HBCU Connection

FAIN: AB-234469-16

Hinds Community College (Raymond, MS 39154-9799)
Dan Fuller (Project Director: June 2015 to May 2018)

A two-year program that would bring the history of William Holtzclaw, an important but overlooked black educator, to the institution he founded, to the region, and to the nation.

The topic, Black Man’s Burden: Holtzclaw and The Mississippi HBCU Connection, will allow us the opportunity to integrate the history of the institution into our humanities courses by developing summer faculty workshops; creating curriculum and teaching toolkits; and digitizing the work product. The founder, William H. Holtzclaw, utilized his connection to Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee to implement the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute model to create educational opportunities for African Americans in Mississippi. Holtzclaw was a pioneer of the ‘sustainable agriculture’ movement.

Media Coverage

Lecture series to focus on founder (Media Coverage)
Publication: Clarion-Ledger
Date: 4/9/2016
Abstract: News brief describing Holtzclaw Lecture Series.
URL: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/09/miss-campus-news-april/82855120/

Historian speaks on Mississippi's "little Tuskegee" (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Jerry Mitchell
Publication: Clarion-Ledger
Date: 10/26/2017
Abstract: Noted historian Jacqueline Jones will speak Thursday on the formation of Mississippi’s “little Tuskegee” — the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute. She will deliver her lecture, “A Dangerous Thing: Black Schooling in William Holtzclaw’s Mississippi,” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Gore Art Gallery at Mississippi College.
URL: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/10/26/historian-speaks-on-mississippis-tuskegee/92788226/

Associated Products

Holtzclaw Lecture Series - "William H. Holtzclaw: The Man, The Mission, and the Mask" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Holtzclaw Lecture Series - "William H. Holtzclaw: The Man, The Mission, and the Mask"
Abstract: William Andrews, the E. Maynard Adams Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will speak on “William H. Holtzclaw: the Man, the Mission, and the Mask” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28 at the Margaret Walker Center in Ayer Hall on the Jackson State University campus. A reception is before the lecture at 6 p.m. His lecture will discuss Holtzclaw’s autobiography, “Black Man’s Burden,” along with William Pickens’ “Bursting Bonds,” in light of Booker T. Washington’s “Up from Slavery.” Holtzclaw and Pickens were both Booker T. Washington protégés, but while Holtzclaw remained a Bookerite, Pickens had become by 1922 a supporter of Du Bois. The talk will examine both men’s work, with an emphasis on the influence of Washington’s classic autobiography on both. The Holtzclaw Lecture Series is designed to bring nationally recognized scholars and experts on African American education in the South for public lectures in a variety of venues around the state. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Margaret Walker Center, with major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Author: William L. Andrews
Date: 04/28/2016
Location: Jackson State University
Primary URL: http://news.hindscc.edu/index.php/hinds-cc-utica-campus-kicks-off-holtzclaw-lecture-series/
Primary URL Description: Press Release

Holtzclaw Institute (Web Resource)
Title: Holtzclaw Institute
Author: Jean Greene
Author: Dan Fuller
Abstract: This website features articles and news updates from the Holtzclaw grant team.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: http://holtzclawinstitute.wordpress.com

A Dangerous Thing: Black Schooling in William Holtzclaw’s Mississippi (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: A Dangerous Thing: Black Schooling in William Holtzclaw’s Mississippi
Abstract: A decorated author and historian on race and class issues in U.S. history will address the next installment of the Holtzclaw Lecture Series, sponsored in part by the Humanities Department at Hinds Community College’s Utica Campus. Jacqueline Jones, chair of the History and Ideas Department at the University of Texas, will speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Gore Art Gallery at Mississippi College on a chapter of her 2013 book, “A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama’s America.” The chapter is dedicated to William H. Holtzclaw, who founded the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute in 1903 that is now the Utica Campus. The lecture itself is titled “A Dangerous Thing: Black Schooling in William Holtzclaw’s Mississippi.”
Author: Jacqueline Jones
Date: 10/27/2017
Location: Clinton, MS
Primary URL: http://news.hindscc.edu/index.php/hinds-cc-utica-campus-continues-holtzclaw-lecture-series/
Primary URL Description: Press release for talk

Developing a Cross-Curricular Humanities Course to Explore Institutional History. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Developing a Cross-Curricular Humanities Course to Explore Institutional History.
Author: Daniel Fuller
Author: Jean Greene
Author: Sharon Melton
Abstract: In an effort to increase student engagement with the humanities on campus, Hinds Community College-Utica, an HBCU in rural Mississippi, launched a new course centered around the founding of our institution. Introduction to the Humanities is a team-taught course offered by the humanities faculty where each instructor delivered a different 2-3 week unit. The students were engaged in a study of Black rural education in the context of the Jim Crow south though a careful reading of Black Man’s Burden, the autobiography of our founder, William H. Holtzclaw. Funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the course has allowed our small campus the opportunity to investigate Holtzclaw’s life and legacy through both faculty research and students’ undergraduate research projects. In this session, we will discuss lessons learned from this experience for colleges who may wish to explore institutional history with their own students. We will discuss the creation of our shared syllabus, an overview of the project, incorporating undergraduate student research projects, and engaging students in archival work.
Date: 2/14/2017
Conference Name: National Assocation of African American Studies Annual Conference

Navigating the Waters: Experiments in Cross-Curricular Team Teaching. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Navigating the Waters: Experiments in Cross-Curricular Team Teaching.
Author: Daniel Fuller
Abstract: As part of a recently funded NEH grant, the humanities faculty at Hinds CC-Utica came together to teach a new course – Introduction to the Humanities – built around the unique history of our school’s founder, William H. Holtzclaw. As an HBCU in rural Mississippi, our course seeks to explore the promise and challenges faced by Holtzclaw to start a “little Tuskegee” with an eye toward the implications of this legacy in an increasingly polarized world. In addition to fostering an appreciation for the humanities in American life, our goal for our students in the course is to expose them to rich opportunities for undergraduate research in the humanities (each student developed a semester-long research project in concert with a faculty mentor). Through a series of faculty development workshops and seminars, 7 Hinds faculty members worked together to create and deliver the course content. In this session, we will discuss lessons learned from this adventure in team teaching, as well as suggestions for other community colleges who might want to adopt a similar approach. We will highlight NEH funding opportunities as well.
Date: 2/24/2017
Conference Name: Two-Year College English Association-Southeast Annual Conference

Developing a Cross-Curricular Humanities Course to Explore Institutional History. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Developing a Cross-Curricular Humanities Course to Explore Institutional History.
Author: Jean Greene
Abstract: In an effort to increase student engagement with the humanities on campus, Hinds Community College-Utica, an HBCU in rural Mississippi, launched a new course centered around the founding of our institution. Introduction to the Humanities is a team-taught course offered by the humanities faculty where each instructor delivered a different 2-3 week unit. The students were engaged in a study of Black rural education in the context of the Jim Crow south though a careful reading of Black Man’s Burden, the autobiography of our founder, William H. Holtzclaw. Funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the course has allowed our small campus the opportunity to investigate Holtzclaw’s life and legacy through both faculty research and students’ undergraduate research projects. In this session, we will discuss lessons learned from this experience for colleges who may wish to explore institutional history with their own students. We will discuss the creation of our shared syllabus, an overview of the project, incorporating undergraduate student research projects, and engaging students in archival work.
Date: 3/15/2017
Primary URL: http://lyrasis.adobeconnect.com/p8efcdjo7vt/
Conference Name: HBCU Library Alliance webinar hosted by LYRASIS

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