Summer Semester: The Negro in the 20th Century: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A CBS program produced by Bergen Community College titled The Negro in the 20th Century. It consists of a white DVD (a) and a paper program (b).

The white DVD (a) has the program title, date, and college logo printed on it and features a conversation between Ralph Ellison and Dr. Kenneth Clark. Topics discussed in the recording include the factors that have influenced the northward migration of African Americans during the twentieth century; the impact of the anti-lynching bill; the impact of Black migrants from other countries in the Americas, such as Marcus Garvey, on domestic life; as well as whether there is a separate Black experience in the United States. The conversation ends with a discussion of the various liberation movements that have been impacted by the Civil Rights Movement.

The paper program (b) is blue and has four (4) photographs of different aspects of American life on it. One features people driving cars, another features an airplane, a third features an aerial shot of a city and a fourth features a group of people standing together. Text in white beside the Bergen Community College logo reads [THE TRANSFORMATION OF / AMERICAN SOCIETY].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1970s
• Produced by: Bergen Community College, American, founded 1965
• Produced by: CBS Broadcasting, Inc., American, founded 1927
• Subject of: Dr. Kenneth Clark, American, 1914 - 2005
• Subject of: Ralph Ellison, American, 1913 - 1994
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: DVDs
• Medium: aluminum and polycarbonate with paper
• Dimensions: Diameter: 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm)
• Dimensions: Duration: 29 min., 11 sec.
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Great Migration
• Topic: Immigration
• Topic: Migrations
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: United States History
• Object number: 2022.90.5.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture,Gift of Dr. Philip Dolce on behalf of Bergen Community College
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Bergen Community College Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.