The HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest African American video oral history archive and depository headquartered in Chicago, and its founder, visionary attorney Julieanna Richardson, will be featured on “60 Minutes” with Bill Whitaker at 6pm CT this Sunday, February 19th, on CBS.
Over two decades ago, Ms. Richardson looked around and saw that much of the public knowledge of the Black experience and the contributions of African Americans was extremely limited and in some instances, harmful to American society as a whole. So she set out to research, gather information and interviews and document and preserve achievements and history. This effort led Richardson to found The HistoryMakers, the national non-profit educational institution for which she now serves as executive director.
“America sat at a critically important crossroads where racist ideology was on the rise and documentation and preservation of 20th century African American life, history and culture risked being lost forever if action was not taken,” said Richardson. She noted that many key public figures were passing away without having their stories documented and preserved for the benefit of succeeding generations. Thus, The HistoryMakers was born.
The organization consists of several sections such as Medicine, Politics, Business, Law, Science, Theater and Entertainment. RogerEbert.com publisher Chaz Ebert serves as a co-chair of the EntertainmentMakers Advisory Committee along with Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the former President (and first African-American to hold that office) of the Oscars organization, AMPAS (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences). With education as its mission, The HistoryMakers’ one-of-a-kind collection is housed permanently at the Library of Congress and provides an unprecedented and irreplaceable physical and online record of African American lives, accomplishments, and contributions through unique first-person testimony.
Tune into “60 Minutes” at 6pm CT on CBS this Sunday, February 19th, to view its segment on The HistoryMakers. For more information on the organization, visit The HistoryMakers’ official site.
