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Records of Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA)

 Collection
Identifier: 32/5

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

Collection consists of records of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA) filling 4 boxes and including 36.3 gigabytes of born-digital files and are dated from circa 1968 to 2018. Collection is arranged into 4 series.

Series 1, Organization records (2002, 2009-2012, 2018) consists of correspondence between African American Student Affairs staff and various community members, and an informational pamphlet on the organization For Members Only (FMO), Northwestern's Black Student Alliance.

Series 2, Photographs (1968-2002 and undated) includes photo albums, photographic prints, negatives, slides, and born-digital files, depicting Black student life at Northwestern, African American Student Affairs staff and events, including formal receptions, dinners, dances, lectures, and performances, a student's study abroad experience in Barcelona, Spain, and images of Northwestern's Black alumni. (Many photographs do not have supplied captions or date information, but identifications have been provided where possible.)

Series 3, Audiovisual recordings (2008 October 31-November 1 and undated) includes video of the 2016 NUBAA Summit in Los Angeles, and content relating to the Black Student Movement at Northwestern (including the 1968 Bursar's Office Sit-In) and the Northwestern University Chicago Action Program (NUCAP) classes of 1970-1972.

Series 4, Artifacts (2018 May 2-6 and undated), includes a plaque presented to NUBAA by Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Bursar's Office Takeover, and a beaded green, black, and red bracelet (the colors of the Pan-African flag).

Dates

  • circa 1968-2018

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection may contain sensitive materials; consultation with Archivist for the Black Experience required prior to use. Born digital materials may not be immediately available. This collection is stored off-site and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection.

Biographical / Historical

The first official use of the name Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA) was in a NUBAA Newsletter sent to alumni in February, 1977; this newsletter described the formation of a steering committee to develop a Black Alumni Association which occurred at an October 2, 1976 meeting of more than 100 Black alumni at the Black House. Black alumni had been informally meeting with Dean Milton Wiggins of African-American Student Affairs over the summer of 1976 to plan the event; the Black Alumni Planning Committee for the event included Eileen Cherry, Stanley Davis, Nelson Bryant, Robert Moore, and Clinton Bristow. The duties of the steering committee were described as follows in the October 2, 1976 meeting agenda: "1) to establish a communication system among Black Alumni, and current Black students and affiliates of Northwestern University. 2) to survey current Black students and Alums to see if the problems perceived exist. 3) to develop programs that address themselves to the perceived problems. 4) to innovate future programs that will be beneficial to both Black students and Alums." The members of this steering committee were Ulysses Blakely, Sidmel Estes, Gilton Cross, James Tucker, Alvin Ponder, Lois Blackmore, Nelson Bryant, and Bob Moore. The Black Alumni Association officially formed in April of 1982. Between 1976 and 1982, other names for the association were temporarily used; a March 2, 1979 newsletter from the "Northwestern University Lawyer Taylor Alumni Council" states that the name was intended "to honor the first black who in 1903 graduated from Northwestern University." The inaugural edition of the Black Alumni Report describes the 1982 founding: "On April 2, 1982 a group of concerned alumni met to discuss the need for a Black Alumni Association at Northwestern University. These alumni recognized that such an organization could help serve the needs and aspirations of Black alumni and undergraduates from Northwestern. They decided it would be best to focus on two main issues: the establishment of a strong communication network among black alumni and the improvement of relations between Black alumni and undergraduates." This report describes the six Committees that would comprise NUBAA: Planning and Development, Student Affairs, Membership and Communication, Programing and Special Affairs, Alumni Admissions Council, and Budget and Fund Raising. NUBAA at this time also had the stated goals of creating a regularly published Black Alumni Newsletter and Black Alumni Directory. Between the October 1976 meeting which formed the initial steering committee to develop NUBAA and the April 1982 founding of NUBAA, efforts were ongoing; the February 1979 edition of Blackboard, The Official News Organ of For Members Only discusses the work of Zina Jacque, alumna and then-Assistant Director of Undergradute Admissions: "Her current project is the establishment of the Black Alumni Association. The first step, compiling a list of 864 Black Northwestern graduates, has been completed. It will be called the Lawyer-Taylor Alumni Association..." In an interview with inaugural President of NUBAA, Bob Moore (SPS '88, MSJ '89), he describes one of the main goals of NUBAA at its founding as supporting current Black students at Northwestern and serving in an ombudsman-like role during their time at the university. He describes how NUBAA affiliated with the Northwestern University Alumni Association in October of 1986 (the year he became the first President of NUBAA), whereas between 1982 and 1986 the Association was operating similarly to a program under the Department of African American Student Affairs based out of the Black House. A document from the initial October 1976 meeting elaborates on the reasons for the delay in affiliating with the NU Alumni Association: "A formal Black Alumni Associaiton would constitute a special constituency group. Mr. Payson Wild, Coordinator of Special Constituency Alumni Groups, appears receptive to the idea of a Black Alumni Association. However, many black alumni have expressed apprehension at affiliation with the University Alumni Association, given its present goals. These people are opposed to supporting an organization that will not acknowledge the institutional racism of the university nor initiate policy to eradicate it." [See file "Northwestern University Black Alumni Association, 1976-1997" of collection Records of the Department of African-American Student Affairs.] The Northwestern University Alumni Association (NUBAA) current (as of 2021) mission statement is to "deepen its members' commitment to Northwestern and support the University's efforts to recruit and graduate more African American scholars... by providing extensive alumni networking opportunities and financial support for programs designed to increase the Black student population, including scholarships." Other NUBAA Presidents include Jeffrey Sterling, '85 and Willard Evans ’77, ’81 MBA, and MaryAnn Marsh ’85. [Quotation from: Northwestern Alumni Association - Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA) webpage, at URL: https://www.alumni.northwestern.edu/s/1479/02-naa/16/interior_lvls.aspx?sid=1479&gid=2&pgid=22989]

Extent

1.6 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

36.2 Gigabytes (6 CDs, 3 DVDs) : Optical discs are housed in 1 folder (Box 3, Folder 1).

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Collection consists of records of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA), dating from circa 1968 to 2018, including approximately 1.6 linear feet (4 boxes) and 36.3 gigabytes of born-digital files of organization records, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and artifacts.

Arrangement

Collection is arranged into 4 series: Organization records (2002, 2009-2012), Photographs (1968-2002 and undated), Audiovisual recordings (2008 October 31-November 1 and undated), and Artifacts (2018 May 2-6 and undated). Born-digital materials have been integrated through the collection into their corresponding series based on content. Within series, files are arranged in chronological order.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Accessible born-digital material within the collection must be viewed within the University Archives reading room during research appointments unless otherwise requested. All necessary hardware and software will be provided during the appointment to access these materials to the best of our abilities. Available born-digital materials in this collection are delivered to researchers in born-digital formats. Requests for different access methods, such as those not using computers or with the aid of assistive technologies, must be made in advance a research to Library staff.

Custodial History

Data from born-digital materials in this collection were transferred using read-only technologies creating preservation copies to extract the content without altering any of its data. Preservation files have undergone a checksum algorithm to allow for future data integrity and authenticity checking and repair according to the Libraries’ digital preservation policy.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Records of Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA) were donated to the University Archives by the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association on July 19, 2017, and on February 15, May 1, and June 27, 2018. (Accession numbers: 17-179, 18-15, 18-72, 18-93.) Born-digital files from accessions 17-179 and 18-3 were extracted from original media carriers in 2017 and 2021 respectively.

Related Materials

See also: The 2018 book Voices and Visions: The Evolution of the Black Experience at Northwestern University, authored by past NUBAA President Jeffrey Sterling and past NUBAA Vice-President Lauren Lowery; the collections Records of the Bursar's Office Takeover Commemoration and the Records of the Department of African-American Student Affairs; the Northwestern University Black Alumni Directory; the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association website; NUBAANET: The Voice of the NU Black Alumni Association; the Black Alumni Report; and the Black Student Life Publications.

Title
Guide to the Records of Northwestern University Black Alumni Association (NUBAA)
Author
Natalia Gutiérrez-Jones, Archival Processing Specialist
Date
2021 August
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Library Details

Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository

Contact:
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635