NSU Press Release

NSU Exhibits Black Memorabilia Jan. 27

Norfolk, Va.— Norfolk State University’s Archives Gallery will open its doors at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 to welcome the Therbia and Marva Parker Black Memorabilia Collection.

The exhibit, Legacies of Slave Images in American Culture, will feature more than 200 pieces from the Parker’s 3000 piece collection, which has been assembled over the past 35 years. These derogatory, highly commercialized images grew out of the slavery era and were prominent in perpetuating negative racial notions throughout American culture. Depictions of Blacks as mammies, coons, sambos, and pickaninnies appeared in such popular culture items as music, cartoons, films, post cards, porcelain figurines, coin banks, and product labels and advertisements. These everyday objects were produced domestically and globally, and they were widely disseminated in the 19th and 20th centuries.

William H. Alexander, professor of history at Norfolk State University, hopes the exhibit will “make younger generations aware of residual images that exist in contemporary societies.” He also expects that “the porcelain figures and blood stained Ku Klux Klan robe will both challenge and disturb viewers.”

The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will run weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Jan. 27 to March 4. For more information, contact the History Department at 823-2267 or the Office of News and Media Relations at 823-8373.