Jesse C. Crump's mother instilled the value of education from an early age.
Black Data Processing Association
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With thanks to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for funding support to process the collections of African-Americans in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), the Amistad Research Center is pleased to present the Black Data Processing Associates collection.
The Black Data Processing Association (BDPA) was formed in 1975 by Earl A. Pace Jr. and David Wimberly as a local organization to help educate and train minorities working within the information technology industry. In 1979, it was restructured as a national organization with chapters in Cleveland, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1995, its mission statement was to "sustain a network of information technology professionals that is a positive influence in the information processing industry; a network which shares information, provides education, and performs community service.”
While the BDPA collection at Amistad is small, it gives a glimpse of the type of work the organization did within the Black community in the 1990s. By the time I finished arranging the collection, I was definitely left wanting for more, because the materials were very fascinating. The collection contains informational materials that explain what the WEB is, as well as how to navigate the "NET."
The collection also contains newsletters from the BDPA chapters in Silicon Valley, northern New Jersey, and Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the more intriguing items I found was a brochure for United States Black Online, the first nationwide black-owned and operated internet service provider.
Today, the BDPA boasts forty-five chapters across the United States. As they did in the past, the organization still trains minority professionals and offers technology based workshops to the public, among other services. It offers scholarships and mentorships to students as well and continues to hold annual conferences.
Amid the proliferation of coding programs and other STEM programs aimed towards African Americans, it was interesting to look at an organization formed in the 1970s aimed at boosting the participation of Blacks in information technology and create a network of professionals across the country.
Images from the Black Data Processing Associates collection, 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.
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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.
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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.
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