Browse the Collection

All De Live Long Day, a program of African American folklore, music, and dance, was the second of two productions by Zora Neale Hurston to be performed on the Rollins campus during the 1930s.

Two programs that were provided for attendees at the Annual Race Relations Sunday held at Rollins College. The event focused on music, academic remarks, films, and sermons that related to racial or religious issues.

Carol Berkley, a member of the Race Relations Committee, describes the work of the group from January to March 1946, including holding Race Relations Sunday, volunteering at the Hungerford School, and working with local African American high schools. The description gives insight into the focus of the group from its start and how they are attempting to improve race relations locally.

Twenty Black Student Union members pose for their student organization’s yearbook photograph. This is the first Black Student Union photograph included in the Tomokan yearbook. Back row: Krisita Jackson, Theda James, Deborah Coleman, Brenda Martin, Reggie Brock, Blanche Jackson, Lonnie Butler, Otis Cameron, Rodney Dowling. Middle row: Lorraine Powell, Marcus Wilson, Grace Borom, Juanita Gibson, Jennifer Matthews, Roxwell Robinson, Arlinda Staley. Front row: Guilda Brandon, Theotis Bronson, Constance Blackman, Errol Cunningham.

Thirteen members of the Black Student Union gather for their yearbook photo. They are seated on the steps of Bush Science Center. (First row, left to right): Douglas Pollard, Denise Brookins, Blondie Jones, Priscilla Lyons, Roxwell Robinson. (Second row, left to right): Vic Crumity, Errol Cunningham, Willie Flowers, Dick Twine, Roslyn Lawson, Luther Graham, Kimberly Broxton, Sharon Israel.

(First row, left to right): Sharon Israel, Kim Broxton, Debbie Mitchell, Roslyn Lawson, Blondie Jones, Denise Brookins, Gloria Allen. (Second row, left to right): Victor Crawford, Clyde Clark, Thomas Francis, Gigi Morgan, Luther Graham, Rodney Akins, Kirk Twine. Fourteen Black Student Union members gather around a sofa for their yearbook picture. This is the fourth such yearbook photograph of Black Student Union members gathered for their student organization picture.

President Hamilton Holt; Mary McLeod Bethune, President Emerita of Bethune-Cookman College; and Professor of Books Edwin Osgood Grover at the 1949 Animated Magazine.

An overview of completed and planned tasks for the Race Relations Committee in November 1945. The activities show the interaction between the group and local African American community to volunteer, donate, and share ideas.

The administration responds to student demands for more Black studies by creating a winter term course on "Black Literature, History and Sociology." The Dean of Rollins College consulted the Dean of Bethune-Cookman College on the structure and content of the course, demonstrating continued cooperation between the two institutions.

Black Student Union President Roxwell Robinson writes to President Jack Critchfield, requesting that the College offer at least three Black Culture courses per academic year, even in the face of financial difficulty. President Critchfield responds that he cannot make a guarantee, but that he and the administration intend to preserve Black Culture courses in the curriculum.

Black Student Union President Roxwell Robinson requested suggestions from Rollins College department heads about the next Black Awareness Week program, based on the theme of Black Arts. He received suggestions from a professor and her Black literature class. The correspondence demonstrates the BSU’s cooperative relationship with Rollins faculty.