Dear ROOTers,
We are taking the opportunity of this 40th anniversary to think deeply about ROOTS’ history, and are working on several initiatives that engage ROOTers in telling the story of ROOTS.
One of these initiatives is The History Project, an interactive web-based platform that allows us to identify key milestones in the organization’s history and populate them with archival materials – photos, video, audio stories, and more – that flesh out that particular moment in time. Our goal is to introduce The History Project to you all at ROOTS Week.
To begin this project, we’ve compiled the following list of organizational milestones, and would like your input on them. (Big shout out to Ashley Sparks who has been doing much of this digging/gathering!)
Of this list of milestones, which ones are most important to you, the most vital to the telling of ROOTS’ story? What other moments should be on this list? Which ones could you live without?
Please take a few minutes to read through the list and share your feedback. Thank you!
- September 1976: The Call, first meeting at Highlander
- 1976/77: New Year’s Eve Sharing Conference, Florida Studio Theater
- August 1977: Formally incorporated
- 1978: Performance Festival in Nashville
- August 1979: Annual Meeting at Camp Blackmore, Dungannon, VA
- 1980: ROOTS Festival, Eckerd College
- 1981: Ruby Lerner begins as Executive Director
- August 1981: 5th Annual Meeting, Camp Ozone, TN
- 1984: Annual Meeting, YMCA Camp Younts in Waco
- 1985: Little Black Sambo moment
- 1985: Josephine Grant begins as Executive Director
- 1987: 10th Anniversary Festival, Atlanta, GA
- 1988: Kathie deNobriga begins as Executive Director
- 1988: Annual Meeting, Camp Rockmont
- 1990: Annual Meeting, Sports Camp
- 1992: Annual Meeting, Table Rock
- 1994: Community Arts Revival, Durham
- 1994: First Cafe Bizzoso
- 1996: 20th Anniversary
- 1997: Son of White Man moment
- 1998: Alice Lovelace begins as Executive Director
- 2002: 25th Anniversary
- 2002: FOCAS Festival, Louisville KY
- 2003: Organizational commitment to racial justice
- 2003: Partnered with Art in the Public Interest
- 2003: Carolyn Morris begins as Executive Director
- 2004: First Annual Meeting at Lutheridge, Arden, NC
- 2004: Hip hop Artist Activist Scholars (AKA “When Hip Hop Met the Hippies”)
- 2004: Partnered with the Center for Digital Storytelling
- 2005: Hurricanes Katrina & Rita build off the Gulf Coast during the Annual Meeting
- 2006: UPROOTED: The Katrina Project
- 2007: Participated in the United States Social Forum, Atlanta, GA
- 2009: Carlton Turner becomes Interim Director
- 2010: Participated in the United States Social Forum, Detroit, MI
- 2011: 35th Anniversary/ROOTS Fest, West Baltimore, MD
- 2012: Joan Mitchell Visual Artists Scholars program begins
- 2014: Changes to Membership Structure
- 2015: Carlton Turner attends “In Performance at the White House: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the NEA and the NEH”
- 2015: ROOTS partners with NALAC, First People’s Fund & the PA’I Foundation to found the Intercultural Leadership Institute
- 2016: 40th Anniversary/A Call to Action: Emergent Organizing