Co-curators Jonathan Logan and Sasha Charlemagne watched as the first group of visitors took in their exhibit. The timeline illustrating 100 years of Howard Homecoming decorates the walls of the Wayne A. I. Frederick Undergraduate Library (UGL) breezeway, beginning with the Howard-Lincoln Classic in 1924.
Photos, manuscripts and personal artifacts narrate the journey from Toni Morrison in the 1950s, the homecoming queen culture of the 1980s, Howard’s men cologne in 1989 and into the more recent history of the 2000s and 2010s. The exhibit ends with the front page of the homecoming print edition of The Hilltop, published earlier last week.
The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MRSC) held the opening reception for their project, “Since 1924: The Howard Homecoming Centennial Exhibit,” last week. The exhibit is dedicated to celebrating 100 years of Howard’s homecoming tradition.
“Howard’s homecoming is a family reunion, and if Howard’s homecoming is a family reunion, this is your family scrapbook here on the walls,” Charlemagne said.
Charlemagne graduated from the university in 2021, majoring in communication with a minor in art history.
“I feel really excited because this history doesn’t belong to me, it really belongs to all of us,” she said with a bouquet of gifted flowers in her hand. “I feel honored to lead folks through their history.”
Logan, who graduated in 2022, worked at Moorland two years ago as a library technician, overseeing social media and scanning photos amongst other tasks before returning as a co-curator for the exhibit.
On Wednesday, Logan looked forward to hearing the conversations and seeing people engage with one another.
He said he wanted the items on the wall to spark imagination, “allowing them to feel connected to this entire generational length of information that allows us to understand what we’re celebrating and what we’re existing in right now.”
Students who attended the exhibit said they felt a deep connection to the archival pieces shown.
Amaria Clark, senior honors psychology major and criminology minor from Charlotte, North Carolina, said the exhibit was “phenomenal.”
“They did an excellent job at portraying the different aspects of the Howard experience,” she said. “They paid homage to our ancestors and those who came before us, which I greatly appreciated. Overall, the exhibit made me feel more connected to my Howard community and proud to be a Bison.”
This connection was not felt by accident. Charlemagne said the curators’ vision targeted students while preparing this piece.
“We had a story in mind, and that story was about student empowerment,” she said. “We tried to hone in on pieces that highlighted student contributions to homecoming and student contributions to that legacy.”
Charlemagne said curating the exhibit took many early days, long nights and “being nosey.” They searched through old Hilltop newspapers, yearbooks and campus magazines.
“The process, although tedious, we had a lot of support from our research leads here at Moorland who we really could not have done this without,” she said.
One person who assisted with bringing the archives out of the stacks is Sonja Woods, university archivist at Moorland. As the archivist, she found more obscure items outside of The Hilltop and university yearbooks. She also helped facilitate the curators with documents and materials, acquiring loaned items and isolating images and articles.
Charlemagne said taking the time to research and find the photos, articles and artifacts was an important part of the process. It was Logan’s favorite part, and it was impactful to her.
“It was really validating to know that students from 50 to 60 years ago were still going through similar problems, had similar struggles, similar hopes and dreams,” Charlemagne said.
The original plan was to have the exhibit extend up and through Founders Library, but because of the renovations occurring in the building, it was moved to the UGL breezeway. The change of plan did not lessen the meaning.
“[The exhibit] says that Howard has a long tradition of homecomings and, we have [had] some really impactful ways of celebrating over the past 100 years,” Woods said.
Dr. Jessica Whitaker, who teaches engineering and managing data in the graduate school within the masters of applied data science and analytics program, said it is nice to “see the history of our people tied into something we see as a social outlet.”
“By just looking at the pictures you can see even the politics behind it, like with the different homecoming themes. You can see by the fashion, you can see as far as the artist they brought,” she said.
When students come to see this exhibit, Logan wants them to know they can do anything.
“This campus is designed, is made and is cultivated by the students’ energy, their drive, their ambition, their dreams,” he said. “We hope that everything you see on these walls, if anything, can be a spark of imagination that serves towards understanding that you literally can do anything here on this campus.”
Copy edited by Jalyn Lovelady
