Black History
Stanford Libraries receives major Black music collection, supporting new department and expanding possibilities for research
Last Updated on August 7, 2024 by Daily News Staff
The Dijkstra Black Music Collection includes over 8,000 vinyl discs spanning the history of Jazz, Blues, Reggae, and R&B
STANFORD, Calif. /PRNewswire/ — Bram Dijkstra, professor emeritus at UC San Diego, and renowned literary agent Sandra Dijkstra have donated their music collection, nearly 65 years in the making, of irreplaceable recordings of jazz, Jamaican music, blues, soul, and other genres.
Stanford Libraries has accepted the generous donation of the Dijkstra Black Music Collection, a selection of approximately 8,000 commercial vinyl discs in near mint condition. “The collection is remarkable in its scope, depth, and curatorial vision,” said Michael A. Keller, the Ida M. Green University Librarian at Stanford.
About half of the discs in the Dijkstra collection document the work of essential twentieth-century jazz artists, creating a core jazz library that according to Keller “complements and dramatically enriches Stanford’s existing holdings, including the Monterey Jazz Festival Collection and the Riverwalk Jazz Collection.” The unparalleled corpus of Jamaican popular music, which includes representation of instrumentalists, vocalists, and DJs, establishes a new research strength for Stanford.
Once the collection is catalogued and available for use, Stanford will follow audio preservation best practices to protect the integrity of the discs and will provide digital listening access to students, faculty, and researchers while welcoming them to examine the physical discs, sleeves, and liner notes by appointment at Stanford’s Archive of Recorded Sound (ARS).
“The ARS was founded in 1958 to preserve sound recordings as a core part of our cultural heritage,” said Tamar Barzel, head music librarian at Stanford. “The Dijkstra Black Music Collection will have a meaningful and profound effect on ARS collections, which have historically been strongest in early jazz, classical music, and opera.”
Bram Dijkstra’s diligence and passion for documenting the full sweep of jazz history and Jamaican popular music has been a lifelong pursuit. Dijkstra, who was born on a small Indonesian island and raised in Holland, traces its inception to a transformative experience listening to a new record by the New Miles Davis Quintet in 1955. “I admired Miles Davis’ clear, coherent trumpet, but I was shocked into incredulous admiration by the hoarse, abrasive, yet melodious solos of the young tenor saxophone player Miles was featuring here for the first time, someone with the rather strange name of John Coltrane,” said Dijkstra. He recalled that Coltrane’s playing, “rough-toned and oddly jagged, daringly dancing on the edge of failure, but driven by an inner rhythm that steadied every part,” seemed to express what he was feeling – it “made almost physically tangible the music that was in my soul.”
That initial impression endured, inspiring a relocation to the United States, an immersion in African American music, and a commitment to creative work. John Coltrane, he wrote, “taught me to listen to Black music in all its many forms: Coltrane called me to America. He taught me that to be creative is to always search for what is better—and that searching for anything likely to make us better is never neat.”
Original and early pressings in the collection represent the best extant examples for many of Coltrane’s recordings. Rare individual discs, including Bob Marley’s original 12-inch 45rpm single of “Buffalo Soldiers,” Sun Ra’s original Saturn issues with blank or hand-made covers, and early hip hop LPs, are also rich in research potential.
“Recordings are essential primary sources for contemporary music scholarship,” remarked Professor Stephen Hinton, chair of Stanford’s Music Department. “As we expand our programmatic offerings in the areas of jazz studies, popular music, and ethnomusicology, the Dijkstra Black Music Collection will be an indispensable resource for research and teaching.”
Deep runs and other exceptional rarities are found within the Dijkstra Black Music Collection, including a full run of the Blue Note 1500 series of the late 1950s; virtually all John Coltrane commercial releases; a strong representation of avant-garde artists on small label releases from the U.S., Europe, and Japan; and a significant complement of artists’ private-issue and limited-edition releases. The collection’s appraised valuation exceeding $2.3 million reflects the many one-of-a-kind and extremely rare items, which are both of immense worth in the collectors’ market and priceless in their cultural heritage and research value.
The donated collection arrives at a fortuitous moment in Stanford’s history in tandem with the formation of the new African and African American Studies Department. Professor Ato Quayson, chair of the English Department, also chairs the Framework Task Force subcommittee focused on the departmentalization of African and African American Studies. “The Dijkstra Black Music Collection will instigate whole new research agendas in different areas of Black music studies,” said Quayson. “It will be a boon to the Stanford community, and indeed to anyone beyond who wants to take jazz, popular music, and ethnomusicology seriously.”
An event celebrating the collection is scheduled for February 13, 2023 from 5:30 p.m. at the Cecil H. Green Library on Stanford’s historic campus. The event is free and registration is requested. The collection will remain unavailable while it is being processed; inquiries about the collection can be submitted to the Archive of Recorded Sound at Stanford Libraries.
SOURCE Stanford Libraries
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Space and Tech
Astronaut Victor Glover is the latest in a long line of Black American explorers − including York, the enslaved man who played a key role in the Lewis and Clark expedition
Last Updated on April 10, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Craig Fehrman, Indiana University
Astronaut Victor Glover
In April 2026, four astronauts are scheduled to fly around the Moon. As part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, they will become the first humans to do so in half a century. One crew member, pilot Victor Glover, will become the first Black astronaut to ever orbit the Moon.
Glover’s achievement is worth celebrating. But it’s also worth remembering that he belongs to a long and underappreciated history. America’s first Black explorer didn’t fly an Apollo rocket or sail with the U.S. Exploring Expedition. He traveled with Lewis and Clark, and he was known by a single name: York.
I’m a historian who spent five years writing a book about Lewis and Clark, and I found new documents that show York was one of the most important people on their expedition. Even in a party that could number as many as 45 men, York stood out – for his courage, his skill and his sacrifices that helped the famous captains reach the Pacific Ocean.
York’s life as a slave
York was born in Virginia around 1770. Growing up, he was a creative and sociable child, unusually tall with dark hair and a dark complexion – “black as a bear,” a contemporary noted.
He was also enslaved by the Clarks. William Clark, who was around the same age, was also unusually tall, though his hair was a rusty red, and sometimes the boys played together. But the playing stopped once York turned 9 or 10. That’s when he joined the adult slaves in working full time. That’s also when he began to note the differences between his life and William’s – differences that became only clearer once William started ordering him around.
In the 1780s, the Clark household headed to Kentucky. York met a Black woman there and married her. He also became William’s “body servant.”
A body servant was a slave who stayed close to his owner and prioritized his comfort, laying out his clothes and serving his meals. When Meriwether Lewis asked Clark to join his expedition, in 1803, Clark ordered York to accompany him.
Perhaps York was excited for this adventure. Perhaps he was not – it would be punishing, and he would be separated from his wife.
Either way, York didn’t have a choice.
The Corps of Discovery
York proved his worth from the start. Once they reached St. Louis, the soldiers, later known as the Corps of Discovery, rushed to raise winter quarters. Working in hail and snow, York and the others built log huts. They needed rough planks for their tables and bunks, but the carpenters had only a single whipsaw to make them. They chose two men to operate this crucial tool. One of them was York.
On May 14, 1804, the corps began ascending the Missouri River. York helped row and tow the party’s barge, which was the size of a semi-truck trailer. He carried a rifle and hunted – according to the expedition’s journals, he was only the fifth named member to bring down a buffalo. York cooked for the captains. He collected scientific specimens. He nursed the sick, including several soldiers and, later on, Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who would also prove essential to the expedition’s success.
The soldiers were not always kind in return. During this period, officers rarely brought along enslaved body servants. York’s race probably made some of the men angry or uncomfortable. One day, someone threw so much sand in his face that it nearly blinded him. Clark claimed it was “in fun,” but he also wrote that York was “very near losing his eyes,” and no one else got cruelly sprayed with sand.
That fall, during councils with Native leaders, York played a surprising and vital role. The Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa all crowded in to see him and to touch his skin. They had never met a Black person before, and York showed off his strength and played with the Native children. Later, the Arikara said York was “the most marvelous” thing about the corps.
The next year, the expedition crossed the Rockies and the Continental Divide. York’s most important – and most overlooked – contributions came soon after. On the Columbia River and its tributaries, the party had to dig out five new canoes and then paddle them through treacherous rapids.
Lewis and Clark allowed only their best rivermen on these foaming, rock-riven waters. One of them was almost certainly York. During my research, I found an unpublished letter in which Clark praised York’s ability to “manage the boats.”
Just as important, York was a strong swimmer, a rare thing in an era when many people never learned to swim.
York’s life as an explorer
On the Columbia River, the corps survived a series of terrifying choke points – soggy hazards they referred to as the “Long Narrows” and the “Great Chute.” After that came the ocean. They had traveled together for more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers), and when the captains asked the men to vote on where to put their final winter quarters, they made sure to ask York, too.
It was the latest sign that his role had changed during this epic journey. But those changes began with York. In the West, he found ways to make choices and assert himself. He sent a buffalo robe to his wife in Kentucky. When Clark told him to scale back his performances for Native people, York ignored him – because he wanted to, and because he could.
York’s vote was also evidence that, like Victor Glover today, he was an official American explorer, a key member of a sprawling, federally funded mission. From 1804 to 1806, the government devoted a larger percentage of its budget to the corps than it devotes to NASA today.
Part of that money was earmarked for York. The Army gave officers who brought along their slaves a monthly ration or its cash equivalent. When the corps made it home, the government paid US$274.57 for York’s labor, a sum similar to what the privates received. But that money didn’t go to York. It went to Clark.
The hidden history of Black explorers
There have been many Black explorers in American history. Thomas Jefferson launched other expeditions besides Lewis and Clark’s, and those expeditions also included enslaved people, though their names have not survived. Isaiah Brown served on the Wheeler Survey, which mapped the West in greater detail after the Civil War. Matthew Henson accompanied Robert Peary on his Arctic expeditions, which received some federal support. More recently, NASA has depended on Black astronauts such as Guy Bluford, Mae Jemison and Jeanette Epps, among others.
York and Victor Glover are, for now, the first and most recent examples of this inspiring tradition. But their contributions go beyond that. When the captains asked York to vote on the winter quarters, they were acknowledging in some small way that he’d proven he was more than a body servant.
Of course, York had always been more than that. It just took 4,000 miles for Lewis and Clark to see it.
Craig Fehrman, Adjunct instructor at the Media School, Indiana University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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McKinley Thompson: African American Auto Designer
The first-generation Bronco was designed by McKinley Thompson Jr., Ford’s first African American designer. This highlights his significant contribution to the automotive industry during Black History Month.
Last Updated on July 11, 2025 by Daily News Staff
The first-generation Bronco was designed by McKinley Thompson Jr., who was the first African American designer hired at Ford Motor Company.
Edited by: Rod Washington
Images: Ford Motor Company
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The Controversy Surrounding the Jackie Robinson Biography at the U.S. Naval Academy
The Trump administration’s push to ban Jackie Robinson’s biography from the U.S. Naval Academy Library highlights tensions over diversity narratives in education, sparking controversy and raising concerns about historical representation amid ongoing political divisiveness.
Last Updated on April 30, 2025 by Daily News Staff
Jackie Robinson, first baseman with the Brooklyn Dodgers, circa 1949.
In an alarming move reflecting ongoing tensions over diverse narratives in education and public discourse, the Trump administration is reportedly pushing to ban a biography of Jackie Robinson from the Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy. This follows a week of controversy sparked by the temporary removal and subsequent restoration of an article on Robinson’s Army service from the Pentagon’s website.
According to a report from The New York Times, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Naval Academy to review its library collection for works that embody themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The biography of Robinson, alongside around 900 other titles—including Martin Luther King Jr.’s autobiography and “Einstein on Race and Racism”—has been flagged for removal under this directive.
Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the Naval Academy, stated, “The U.S. Naval Academy is fully committed to executing and implementing all directives outlined in executive orders issued by the president and is currently reviewing the Nimitz Library collection to ensure compliance. The Navy is carrying out these actions with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives.”
With Hegseth scheduled to visit the Academy soon, it remains uncertain whether these controversial titles will be removed from the library before his arrival. The issue has sparked substantial outcry, particularly in light of the administration’s recent criticism over removing articles that celebrate influential figures in U.S. history, like Robinson and the Navajo code talkers.
In a discussion prompted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot reiterated the administration’s stance against diversity initiatives, indicating that some content may have been removed inadvertently. His comments drew significant backlash, leading to a follow-up statement emphasizing “patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission” rather than racial or ethnic identities.
Robinson, a second lieutenant in the Army from 1942 to 1944, served with the 761st Tank Battalion, the first Black tank unit to see combat in World War II. His court-martial for refusing to adhere to a racist bus policy only underscores his enduring struggle against racial injustice, paving the way for his groundbreaking success in Major League Baseball as he broke the color barrier.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Robinson’s team for a decade, are scheduled to visit President Trump at the White House to celebrate their 2024 World Series title this April, coinciding with Jackie Robinson Day. This timing juxtaposes their celebration of his legacy against the backdrop of an administration taking steps to diminish recognition of such key figures in American history.
As this situation unfolds, it raises critical questions about the role of educational institutions, historical representation, and the importance of equitable narratives in our national dialogue. In today’s divided political landscape, the removal of influential and diverse voices from public access can serve not just as a reflection of current priorities but also as a forewarning about the future of discourse surrounding diversity and inclusion in America.
Related article: https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/trump-administration-reportedly-moves-to-ban-jackie-robinson-biography-from-naval-academy-library-235013259.html
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