The records include brochures, correspondence, membership lists, minutes, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters and printed programs, proposals and reports that document the establishment and growth of the Contemporary Black Arts Program at UCSD. These records consist chiefly of administrative files from this academic program, friends organization, and Black History Month celebrations, as well as various publicity materials for events sponsored by CBAP.
UC San Diego. Contemporary Black Arts Program Records, 1975-1993 (RSS 1275)
Extent: 2.4 Linear feet (6 archives boxes and 1 map case folder)
The Contemporary Black Arts Program developed from the Cultural Traditions Program at John Muir College in 1979. Strongly interdisciplinary, the Program was established to satisfy general education requirements, to add richness and diversity to the process of educating students, and to serve as a means of increasing the involvement of African Americans in university and local community affairs. In 1979, the Program moved to the Third College, now named Thurgood Marshall College, under the guidance of Dr. Floyd Gaffney, Professor of Drama. Gaffney continued as Director of the program until his retirement in June 1994.
Since 1981, the Program has offered a Contemporary Black Arts Minor which provides a broad introduction to African American performing arts. The minor offers lecture, studio, and performance courses. Through the concerted efforts of the faculty and strong support from university administration, the Program expanded its unique combination of instructional, research, and performing arts missions throughout the 1980s. The Program's involvement in the planning of Black History Month events and its successful sponsorship of performances by African American artists attest to its important contributions to the cultural life of the UC San Diego campus and the surrounding community.
In 2005, Provost of Thurgood Marshall College Dr. Cecil Lytle proposed that the Contemporary Black Arts Minor should be expanded into an African American Studies Minor (AASM), and it was eventually solidified in the same year. It is now not only a study of arts, but an interdisciplinary study of the humanities and social sciences, as well.
The records of the Contemporary Black Arts Program consist of program files related to its academic administration, publicity materials for various events sponsored by CBAP, files associated with the participation of the program director, Floyd Gaffney, in the Black Faculty and Staff Association, subject files concerning African-American education, administrative files of the Friends of the CBAP, and files documenting the program's involvement with Black History Month celebrations at UCSD.
The materials are arranged in six series: 1) PROGRAM FILES, 2) PUBLICITY MATERIALS, 3) BLACK FACULTY AND STAFF ASSOCIATION FILES, 4) SUBJECT FILES, 5) FRIENDS OF THE CONTEMPORARY BLACK ARTS PROGRAM FILES, and 6) BLACK HISTORY MONTH FILES.