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| Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History |
| Established | 1988 |
| Location | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Type | Cultural center |
| Director | (varies) |
| Affiliation | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History is a research, cultural, and community center located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that focuses on African American history, culture, and contemporary issues. The center was named for Sonja Haynes Stone and serves as a hub for scholarship, performance, archival preservation, and civic dialogue connecting campus and community. It fosters collaborations across disciplines and with civil rights organizations, historical societies, artists, and scholars.
The center traces roots to activism from students linked to the Black Student Movement (University of North Carolina) and campus protests similar in spirit to events at Howard University, Cornell University, and University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s and 1970s. Its founding was influenced by figures in African American studies such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Alain Locke, and later scholars like Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cornel West. The center’s development intersected with statewide movements including the legacy of Rosa Parks, Ella Baker, and legal milestones like Brown v. Board of Education that shaped higher education in North Carolina. Philanthropic and institutional support echoed initiatives by organizations such as the Ford Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation of New York that funded cultural centers at universities including Yale University and Princeton University. The center has hosted visiting scholars connected to institutions like Spelman College, Morehouse College, Howard University, and research initiatives tied to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Library of Congress.
The center’s mission aligns with mandates advanced by activists and intellectuals like Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and bell hooks, emphasizing scholarship, cultural expression, and social justice. Programs include research fellowships modeled after awards such as the MacArthur Fellowship and collaborations with campus departments like Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies (UNC), Department of History (UNC), and the School of Law (UNC). Lecture series have featured speakers comparable to Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglass in legacy programming, and contemporary visitors analogous to Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, Brittney Cooper, and Nikole Hannah-Jones. The center runs mentoring programs similar to initiatives at UNCF, organizes symposia akin to conferences held by the American Historical Association and African Studies Association, and maintains artist residencies in the spirit of programs at the Studio Museum in Harlem and Watts Towers Arts Center.
The center curates archival materials akin to holdings at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, including personal papers comparable to collections of Pauli Murray, Charles Hamilton Houston, and John Hope Franklin. Its special collections reflect local history connected to figures such as Addison Gayle Jr., H. L. Mencken contextualized regionally, and organizations like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Oral histories follow practices used by the Federal Writers' Project and the Southern Oral History Program (UNC)],] preserving testimonies connected to families linked with Raleigh, Durham, and the Research Triangle Park. The archives partner with repositories such as the North Carolina Collection at the Wilson Library (UNC), the National Archives, and special projects with the Smithsonian Institution.
Educational initiatives mirror curriculum collaborations found at Brown University, Columbia University, and Duke University through cross-listed courses, workshops, and public seminars. The center develops K–12 outreach similar to programs by the National Endowment for the Humanities and partners with local school systems including Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Durham Public Schools. Workshops have reached audiences with curriculum tied to the Civil Rights Movement and local history sites such as the Hayti Heritage Center. Internships reflect models used by the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institution, preparing students for careers in archives, museum studies, and public history.
Exhibitions combine material culture, visual arts, and performance drawn from practices at institutions like the Museum of African American History (Boston), Brooklyn Museum, and National Museum of African American History and Culture. Past events have included panel discussions featuring scholars in the vein of Wanda King, artists inspired by Kara Walker, musicians in the lineage of Nina Simone and Max Roach, and theatrical productions akin to works by August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry. The center has hosted film screenings comparable to programs at Sundance Film Festival and lecture-performances modeled after presentations at Apollo Theater and Schomburg Center events.
The center partners with civic groups and cultural institutions such as Orange County (North Carolina), City of Chapel Hill, Town of Carrboro, Hayti Heritage Center, and service organizations like NAACP and National Urban League. Collaborative projects have involved academic units such as the Gillings School of Global Public Health (UNC), School of Social Work (UNC), and campus cultural hubs like the Carolina Performing Arts. Regional partnerships reflect ties to Duke University, North Carolina Central University, East Carolina University, and statewide heritage programs at the North Carolina Museum of History.
Governance reflects university-affiliated centers at institutions like University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and University of California, Los Angeles, with advisory boards composed of scholars, artists, and community leaders resembling membership seen in boards of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and the Schomburg Center. Funding sources combine university allocations, grants from foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and donor support similar to major gifts received by Harvard University and Princeton University. The center coordinates fundraising events and endowments with development offices and alumni networks parallel to UNC-Chapel Hill Alumni Association and national giving campaigns.
Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Category:African American cultural centers