In a series of occasional blog posts,
participants in our Mellon Scholars Internship and Workshop programs will
introduce themselves, discuss their experiences at the Library Company, and
share their goals for pursuing careers in the field of early African American
history. This program is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
My name is Kwasi Agyemang and
though every once in a while I am fortunate to be told how unique it sounds, my
name is as common as “James Smith” in Ghana. I spent my childhood in Accra, Ghana,
and it led me to believe that I had a firm understanding of black identity. I
grew up surrounded by black identities; everyone around me from the bus driver
to the President was African. As a kid, being African was as simple as speaking
a “home language” and eating jollof rice. It would be awhile before I
understood the complexities of black being viewed as an other, and it wasn’t
until I came back to the United States for grade school that I began to explore
what it truly meant to be part of the African Diaspora.
The journey to figure out
what it means to be an African and the connection to black identity has led me
towards several internship and fellowship opportunities that have continually
pushed me to redefine my perceptions of the Diaspora. As an undergraduate in
history at George Washington University, I spent a semester interning with the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. During this time, I created the first
African American history tour of the U.S. Capitol, named the Philip Reid US
Capitol Tour, after a 19th century enslaved artisan. After this experience, I
wanted to learn more about the history of early African American identity.
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| Martina Dickerson. "Original and Selected Poetry, Etc." (Circa 1840-1846). |
I
came across the application for the Mellon Scholars Internship and realized the
program was going to be a scholar’s paradise. I applied because I was attracted
to the treasure chest collection of rare books and the diverse array of scholars
that the Library Company of Philadelphia has cultivated over the centuries. I
had to get in and now that I’m part of the “LCP family,” my knowledge of
archival research and professional development is growing leaps and bounds. I
have been able to test my archivist skills by working on the transcription of a
19th century “Friendship Album” which details the sentiments shared between free
middle-class black women. Also, I am working on an independent research project
that seeks to clarify the role Martin Delany, a 19th century African
American global activist, played in transforming black identity.
 |
| Martin Delany. Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring Party (New York, 1861). |
After my internship, I will
be entering the Cooperstown Graduate Program in fall 2014 for my master’s in
museum studies. I plan to focus on cultural entrepreneurship ventures that will
create a sense of mutualism between businesses and cultural institutions.
Kwasi Agyemang
Mellon Scholars Intern, Summer
2014
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