University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 20, Feb. 20, 1997

African-American orators focus of 
Morris Library exhibition
  
  The University Library is celebrating Black History Month
during February with the display in the Morris Library of a
selection of historically significant speeches delivered by
prominent African-American orators. Texts of speeches, along
with related critical reviews, photographs and other
graphical materials, permit viewers to capture a glimpse of
the rich, oratorical traditions of the African-American
community.
  Public speaking has long played a significant role within
African-American history and culture. This is in part
derived from the slavery era when enslaved Africans were
prohibited from reading or writing, and speech became the
primary vehicle for African-American expression. Free blacks
in the North had few weapons to use in the fight against
slavery. However, their voices raised in protest were
powerful and eloquent.
  Since emancipation, African-American speakers have
continued to address the themes of freedom and liberty, as
well as the related themes of equality, justice and the
injustice of racism.
  While many of the speakers address these common themes,
their styles are quite different.
  Despite the speakers' style or technique, the texts of
the speech provide an intimate view of the political
thoughts and ideas of the African-American intelligentsia
and political leadership. The speeches are important primary
source documents that are untarnished by editorial bias or
journalistic bent. They are passionate and powerful and, as
with any good oration, they are reasoned arguments
accompanied with an emotional appeal to action.
  A speech's success is dependent upon both content and
delivery. Unfortunately, the written text is unable to
convey the speaker's fluency, grace, wit or self-
confidence-elements which lead to a successful delivery.
  According to Susan Brynteson, director of libraries, "The
exhibition contains only a sampling of the outstanding
African-American speeches present within the Morris Library
collections."
  Carol A. Rudisell, reference, pointed out that selections
from Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass represent the
voice of abolition, while speeches by Booker T. Washington
and W. E. B. Du Bois reflect the differing political
ideologies of African-Americans at the turn of the 20th
century. Addresses by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
convey the turbulence of the Civil Rights Era, while the
voices of Jesse Jackson and others portray contemporary
efforts to mobilize African-Americans.
  The exhibition, which was curated by Rudisell, will be
displayed through June 2.