The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-



Overview of the Item

Repository: The HistoryMakers
1900 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60616
(312) 674-1900
info@thehistorymakers.com
http://www.thehistorymakers.com
Interviewer: Julieanna Richardson
Videographer: Matthew Hickey
Title: Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-
Dates:August 29, 2002
Abstract: (ABSTRACT)
Quantity: 6 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials.
Identification: A2002.167
Language: The interviews and records are in English

Biographical Note

Writer and social historian Lerone Bennett Jr. has served as the executive editor of Ebony for almost forty years. His written work deftly explores the history of race relations in the United States as well as the current environment in which African Americans strive for equality. Bennett was born on October 17, 1928, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, to Lerone and Alma (Reed) Bennett. When Bennett was young, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and it was here, while attending public schools, that Bennett's interest in journalism was kindled.

Bennett attended Morehouse College, earning a B.A. in 1949. He has always considered Morehouse the center of his academic development. After graduating, Bennett entered the world of journalism as a reporter for the Atlanta Daily World. He became the city editor for the magazine and worked there until 1953, when he began as an associate editor at Jet in Chicago, Illinois. In 1954, Bennett became an associate editor at Ebony, and he was promoted to senior editor of the magazine in 1958. Since then, his comprehensive articles have become one of the magazine's literary hallmarks.

A series of articles originally published in Ebony resulted in Bennett's first book, a seminal work, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, 1619-1962. The book, with its comprehensive examination of the history of African Americans in the United States, gave Bennett a reputation as a first-rate popular historian. In his eight subsequent books, Bennett has continued to document the historical forces shaping the black experience in the United States. His other works include, What Manner of Man?, Pioneers In Protest and The Shaping of Black America.

Bennett has received numerous honors for his work, including the Literature Award of the Academy of Arts and Letters, Book of the Year Award from Capital Press Club, and the Patron Saints Award from the Society of Midland Authors. He has served as an adviser and consultant to several national organizations and commissions, including the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Bennett's articles, short stories and poems have been translated into five languages.

Selected Bibliography

Bennett, Lerone Jr. Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, Chicago, Johnson Publishing Company, 1962, revised 2000.

----------. Pioneers in Protest, Chicago, Johnson Publishing Company, 1968.

----------. The Shaping of Black America: The Struggles and Triumphs of African Americans, 1619-1990s, Chicago, Johnson Publishing Company, 1975, reprinted, Viking Penguin, 1993.

Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®

Scope and Contents

This life oral history interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928- was conducted by Julieanna Richardson on 2002-08-29 in The HistoryMakers, Chicago, Illinois and is recorded on 6 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-'s correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.

Restrictions on Use

All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.

Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms.
Contributors:
Hickey, Matthew
Bennett, Lerone Jr., 1928-
Richardson, Julieanna
Persons:
(PERSONS)
Corporate Bodies:
(CORPORATE BODIES)
Family Names:
Bennett
Places:
(PLACES)
Subjects:
(SUBJECTS)
Document Types:
Video oral history interview
Titles:
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-

Related Material

Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.

Administrative Information

Location of Originals

Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.

Preferred Citation

The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, August 29, 2002. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.

Detailed Description/Tape Listings

Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 1, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:31:13.

Editor and author Lerone Bennett Jr. discusses his family background and his own childhood years in Jackson, Mississippi. He describes his passion for reading and recalls his observations and concerns at an early age about the violent and virulent racism that existed in 1930s Mississippi.


Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 2, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:30:57.

Writer, editor and activist Lerone Bennett remembers his youth in Mississippi in the 1940s. He tells about his family's musical talents, recalls playing with Duke Huddleston's orchestra as a teenager, and describes racist incidents he experienced while on tour. He talks about his education, his early interest in black history, and his goal of attending Morehouse College because he admired professionals in the community who were "Morehouse men."


Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 3, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:29:34.

Writer, editor and activist Lerone Bennett tells about his life-forming experiences at Morehouse College in Atlanta in the late 1940s, his choice of a career in journalism, his work at the Atlanta Daily World newspaper, being recruited by John H. Johnson to come to Chicago to work for him, and the excitement of his early years with Johnson's 'Jet' and 'Ebony' magazines.


Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 4, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:30:47.

Writer, editor and activist Lerone Bennett talks about some of the historical works he has written while at Johnson Publishing, concentrating especially on 'Before the Mayflower' (1962), which evolved from a series of articles in 'Ebony' telling the often overlooked story of early African American history, and 'Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream' (2000), an examination of Lincoln's racism. Bennett discusses reaction to his work from historians, the press and the public and he emphasizes that the controversial positions in his writing and speeches do not represent the views of 'Ebony' or publisher John H. Johnson.


Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 5, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:30:48.

Author, editor and activist Lerone Bennett discusses his recent (2000) work 'Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream', which debunks Lincoln's image as the Great Emancipator. He talks about problems in American historical scholarship on Lincoln in particular and in general as being too supportive of the status quo. Bennett also talks about writers Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Gwendolyn Brooks, the continued racism in America, and the need for reparations for slavery.


Video Oral History Interview with Lerone Bennett Jr., 1928-, Tape 6, August 29, 2002, TRT: 00:27:45.

Writer, editor and activist Lerone Bennett shares his thoughts about the present and future of African Americans, the importance of reparations and an apology for slavery from the United States government, his concerns about drugs, electronic media and the large number of blacks in prisons, and the need for a sense of unity and mobilization among the black community. He considers his legacy and the lessons he would like to pass on to black youth.