This maxim reflects the bond between writer Tom Dent and his library at Amistad.
50 Years/50 Collections: The McClennan Family Papers
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This week we turn to the McClennan Family Papers, acquired by the Amistad Research Center in 1972. This collection chronicles the life of Charleston, South Carolina native Alonzo C. McClennan, as well as members of his family. Born on the eve of the Civil War in 1855, McClennan was the second African American man to enter the U.S. Naval Academy. He ultimately pursued a fulfilling medical career, founding both South Carolina’s first African American nurse training school and the Cannon Street Hospital in Charleston that predominantly served the city’s African American population. Though McClennan was the victim of much bigotry and racial prejudice during his lifetime, his contributions to the Charleston community spoke volumes regarding his determination to ensure equitable health care for all.
McClennan’s path to medicine is one of honorable distinction. Not only did he receive a scholarship to Howard University Medical School in Washington, D.C., but he completed the program in surgery with honors and pursued an additional degree in pharmacy at the turn of the 20th century. He practiced in Columbia, South Carolina and Augusta, Georgia, before meeting Ida Veronica Ridley, who would later become his wife. They moved to Charleston and in 1897 he founded Palmetto Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association. It was South Carolina’s first organization for black medical professionals. The fact that McClennan successfully established this cohort of distinguished black medical professionals at the height of Jim Crow in the South speaks volumes to his commitment to both exposing unjust segregation in the medical profession, and deservedly elevating the status of black medical specialists to the level of their white counterparts. A series of newspaper clippings, invitations, programs, and photographs related to the Palmetto Association are featured in this collection.
The collection also reveals a more personal, touching aspect of McClennan’s life. His correspondence with his wife is featured prominently in the collection—of note is a love letter he sent to Ida Ridley in August 1880 after his arrival in August, Georgia. Other personal correspondence paints a picture of McClennan as a prominent community leader and activist. Supplementing his personal letters is a series of photographs that chronicle the McClennan family, their children and extended family. Also included are photographs of People’s Pharmacy, a pharmacy operated by McClennan in Charleston.
The finding aid for the McClennan Family papers can be found here.
Images from the McClennan Family papers. Images from Amistad’s website, newsletters, and blogs cannot be reproduced without permission.
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books:
Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books:
Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books: