Post About “Black House Newspaper Article”
This text is part of a collection of student work from the Fall 2017 class HIST 294-04/AMST 294-01, Public History: African American Life — Past, Present and Future. Students selected, described, and analyzed items from the Macalester Archives pertaining to Black history. The entire class collection can be found here.
This artifact is a 1969 article by Marietta Smith about Macalester College’s new Black House. It was the new staff writer’s second article for the Minneapolis Star, a position she held for the for eight years following this publication. The Minneapolis Star ran from 1920-1982, and their audience was the people of the Greater Twin Cities area. Because of the target audience, it is evident that this house was new and exciting not only to the Macalester community, but also to those in neighboring cities. Smith titled her article, For Macalester Non-Whites: College Acquires Black Center. The main idea is that Macalester College established a new Black Student Center to promote cultural interaction, and the purpose of the article was to inform the public about the goals, purpose, and establishment of the new center, known to students as the Black House.
The article is split into five sections, each with a different message. The introduction opens the article by establishing the reasons for the creation of the Black House. It quoted James Bennett, who stated that they needed to end isolation of black students, because there “was no need to increase the number of non-white students if those already on campus were not content.” The article moves to the next section, “‘Maintain Identity,’” which elaborates on this idea by arguing that black students need “a place to do black things and maintain their identity,” which “they wouldn’t otherwise get on a white campus.” In the following section, “Communication,” the author wrote about the relationship between the Black House and the greater Macalester community, in the hopes that the two would engage and thrive together. After that came “Owned by College,” which showed that the college not only bought the house itself, but all the amenities and furnishings within it. Finally, the section “Non-White Increase” told the readers that this academic year, due to recruitment, three times as many students of color were expected on campus than in previous years. In addition to these five sections, there were photographs of students in the house to give the reader a visual. These pictures provided context for the reader and showed typical usage of the house as a student and cultural center.
Including the images, this piece takes up a whole page of the newspaper. The paper itself is slightly yellowed with age, and there are defined creases where it has been repeatedly folded. The artifact is with the Black House items in the Student Center folder, which is part of the Multicultural Affairs Collection in the Macalester College Archives. Other materials in this file are a pamphlet about being black at Macalester, and a few publications by the Black house and BLAC with similar intentions.
Upon further research, I found that the Black House changed a lot in the years beyond the Minneapolis Star publication. It moved from 1626 Portland Avenue to 205 Macalester Street in 1978 after the house on Portland was struck by lightning. They hosted many speakers and music events, and the house seemed to be an important part of Macalester black culture. In 1981, however, Macalester faced a tough financial decision concerning the upkeep of their language and culture houses. In the end, they decided to put their money into the language houses and move the Black, Indian, and Hispanic Culture Centers to the Student Union after the 1982-83 academic year. Students reacted with disdain, and pushed for a better location, but the college simply could not afford it.
–Keaton Belbas
Smith, Marietta. “For Macalester Non-Whites: College Acquires Black Center.” Minneapolis Star, September 19, 1969. Black Student Center Folder, Multicultural Affairs Collection.
“Minneapolis Star search.” Star Tribune (Minneapolis – St. Paul). Accessed November 15, 2017. http://startribune.newspapers.com/search/#query=marietta smith&lnd=1&offset=782&t=4473
“Rest in Peace?” The Weekly Mac, October 9, 1981.
Cameron, Becky. “Culture centers must move.” The Weekly Mac, October 22, 1982.
Riskind, Jon. “Students oppose cultural site.” The Weekly Mac, February 18, 1983.
MetadataTitle: Post About 'Black House Newspaper Article'
Creator: Belbas, Keaton
Description: This text is part of a collection of student work from the Fall 2017 class HIST 294-04/AMST 294-01, Public History: African American Life — Past, Present and Future. Students selected, described, and analyzed items from the Macalester Archives pertaining to Black history. The entire class collection can be found in the Fall 2017 Public History Class tag.
Date Created:
Dates of Content: September 19, 1969
Type of Content: Text
Source: Smith, Marietta. “For Macalester Non-Whites: College Acquires Black Center.” Minneapolis Star, September 19, 1969. Black Student Center Folder, Multicultural Affairs Collection.
URL: https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/uncategorized/black-house-newspaper-article/
Suggested Citation: Belbas, Keaton. " Post About 'Black House Newspaper Article'." Counterbalance, Macalester College Archives. . Text. https://dwlibrary.macalester.edu/counterbalance/uncategorized/black-house-newspaper-article/.