Jean Blackwell Hutson

Jean Blackwell Hutson
Born Jean Blackwell
(1914-09-07)September 7, 1914
Summerfield, Florida, United States
Died February 4, 1998(1998-02-04) (aged 83)
Harlem Hospital, New York
Nationality American
Alma mater Barnard,
Columbia University School of Library Science
Occupation Librarian, curator, writer, archivist
Spouse(s) Andy Razaf (1939–1947)
John Hutson (1950-1998)
Children Jean Francis (d. 1992)
Parent(s) Paul O. Blackwell (farmer)
Sarah Myers Blackwell (elementary schoolteacher)

Jean Blackwell Hutson (born Jean Blackwell; September 7, 1914 – February 4, 1998[1]) was an African-American librarian, archivist, writer, curator, educator, and later chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture where she helped to upgrade the library to the standard where it is now.[2]

Early life and education

Jean Blackwell Hutson was born in Sommerfield, Florida. Her father, Paul O. Blackwell was a common merchant and her mother, Sarah Myers Blackwell was an elementary school teacher. [3]  Hutson and her mother relocated to Baltimore at age 4 while her father remained in Florida. At a young age, Hutson developed a love for reading. In 1931, Hutson graduated from Baltimore's Frederick Douglass High School at a tender age of 15 as valedictorian. Attending this school gave her a deep love for black history.[4]  She was taught by the daughters of two famous black leaders, W.E.B. Du Bois and Kelly Miller. [5]  After high school, she enrolled in University of Michigan with the intentions of studying psychiatry.[3] Due to the Great Depression, she had to switch gears and attend Barnard College in New York City. [4] Hutson graduated in 1935 with a BA in English being the second black female to graduate with Zora Neale Hurston being the first. The following year she graduated from Columbia University School of Library Service with her MA. [3]

During the midst of her life, Jean Hutson managed to marry Andy Razaf (a famous songwriter) in 1939. However, it was a short marriage only lasting eight years, and ending in 1947. A short three years after that, Hutson married again now to John Hutson who later died in 1957.[6] During this short marriage, Hutson and John adopted a daughter in 1957.[7]

Career

Hutson first began her professional career as a high school librarian in Baltimore from 1936 to 1939 at several branches of the New York Public Library.[3] She took initiative to bring Spanish-language literature to the school so Spanish-speaking students had greater access to the library.[8] Hutson had a huge role in the development of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black History, [9] which was the world's most inclusive collection of material that documented people of African descent history and culture.[10]

While she worked as an educator, she became an associate adjunct professor at the City College of New York in the History department where she taught black history. She spent a great time as a librarian, balancing her time while she was writing many short stories and introductions for many different books.[5] Hutson spent the year of 1939 as a New York public librarian.[7] In 1948, as the acting curator of the Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints at the 135th Street/Countee Cullen branch of the New York Public Library, in Harlem.[11] She reported that her initial job was to "keep the negroes quiet for the first six months".[6] During her tenure as curator and then chief of the Schomburg Collection for Research in Black Culture, from 1948 to 1980, Hutson oversaw the growth of the collection's holdings and fought to secure funds to move the collection from its inadequate building at 103 West 135th Street to a new building, which opened in 1981.[12][13] For 8 years, Hutson dedicated her time to raise money to spread awareness about the Schomburg collection.[14] With Hutson's determination to shine light on the Schomburg, they began to receive private and New York City and State grants. In 1965, they received funding from the North Manhattan Project which resulted in the Schomburg's first budgetary increase for the collection since 1948. The Schomburg Center also received a grant in 1967 from The Ford Foundation. The Schomburg received a lot of grants as well as recognition.[4] Due to her commitment and dedication to her work, this collection became one of the main research libraries in the New York Public Library in 1972.[15]

With a personal invitation from Kwame Nkrumah, Hutson was asked to assist in Ghana with the development and creation of the African Collection.[16] She took the opportunity to move to Ghana and spent the years of 1964-1965 at the University at Ghana.[7] Due to her vast knowledge in African studies, she ended up growing the Schomburg Collection from fifteen thousand volumes, to seventy-five thousand volumes solely in the African diaspora.[15] She also contributed to the Schomburg Collection by persuading her old friends, the authors Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, to donate their correspondence and manuscripts.[4]

Hutson retired in 1980 but still remained active.[4][16] She was still actively involved in organizations such as Information Science in the 1980s. She served on the Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities of the National Commission on Libraries. During her retirement she wrote a chapter on the Schomburg Center in Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History.[16]

Merits and Involvement

During Hutson's lifetime, she was involved in many different civic, social, professional and cultural organizations. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the NAACP, the American Library Association, the African Studies Association and the Urban League. Throughout her lifetime she received many awards. Hutson received a doctorate of humane letters from King Memorial College in Columbia, South Carolina.[4] In 1966, Hutson received the Annual Heritage Award of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. In 1974, she received Black Heroes Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service Commemorating the Lives of Malcolm.[17] In 1990, Barnard College awarded her with the Medal of Distinction and in 1992, she was honored by Columbia University’s School of Library Services.[4] During the Heritage weekend in January 1995, for the Schomburg Center eightieth birthday tribute, they celebrated all of Hutson's contributions and named the Jean Blackwell Hutson General Research and Reference Division in her honor.[4]

Death

On February 4, 1998, Jean Blackwell Hutson died at Harlem Hospital in New York City at age 83.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Wedin, Carolyn. "Hutson, Jean Blackwell". Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Bolden, T, (2012). "African-American writers: A dictionary".
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wedin, Carolyn. "Oxford AASC: Home". www.oxfordaasc.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Howard, Sharon. "Oxford AASC: Home". www.oxfordaasc.com. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  5. 1 2 Howard, Sharon. "Hutson, Jean Blackwell". Oxford African American Studies Center.
  6. 1 2 BOYD, HERB (January 28, 2016). "The Schomburg's indomitable Jean Blackwell Hutson". New York Amsterdam News.
  7. 1 2 3 "Hutson, Jean (née Blackwell) 9/7/1914–2/3/1998". Gale Virtual Reference Library. 2009.
  8. ↑ Hine, Darlene Clark; Brown, Elsa Barkley; Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn (1993). Black Women in America. Indiana University: Carlson Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-253-32774-1.
  9. ↑ Hildenbrand, Suzanne. "Library Feminism and Library Women's History: Activism and Scholarship, Equity and Culture". www.jstor.org.gate.lib.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  10. ↑ "Jean Blackwell Hutson Library Residency Program - About Us - University at Buffalo Libraries". library.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  11. ↑ "Hutson, Jean". Encyclopedia of African-American Writing. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  12. ↑ Smith, Dinitia (February 7, 1998). "Jean Hutson, Schomburg Chief, Dies at 83". New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Jean Hutson, Schomburg Chief, Dies at 83". Jet. February 23, 1998. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Gale - Enter Product Login". go.galegroup.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  15. 1 2 Farrell, Robert. "Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture". Oxford African American Studies Center.
  16. 1 2 3 Easterbrook, David L. (14 July 2016). "Jean Blackwell Hutson, 1914-1998". Cambridge Core.
  17. ↑ "Jean Blackwell Hutson facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Jean Blackwell Hutson". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
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