Thomas Battle
Thomas Cornell Battle is an African American artist, librarian, historian and archivist.[1] He has worked at Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Center for over 30 years and has contributed to the "library, museum, manuscript collection, and university archives."[2] He is most well known for his work with the Society of American Archivists in founding the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable, which continues to work toward diversity and inclusion in the archival profession. He has served with several archival institutions as well as published essays, reviews and articles over his career.
Early life and education[edit]
Battle was born on March 19, 1946 to parents Thomas Oscar Battle and Lenore Thomas Battle.[3] He was born at Howard University's Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C.[3]
He attended many elementary schools including Colonel Charles Young Elementary, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner Elementary, and River Terrace Elementary.[3] He later attended Carter G. Woodson Junior High School before graduating from William McKinley High School in 1964.
As a high schooler, he worked part-time at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library.
After high school, Battle attended Howard University where he was mentored by Loraine Williams and Rayford W. Logan. Among those who influenced him at Howard were Stokeley Carmichael, James Nabrit, Leon Damas, and Nathan Hare.[3] In 1968, Battle earned his Bachelor's Degree in History from Howard University.
He later attended the University of Maryland College of Information Studies for his Master's in Library Science, which he received in 1971.[3] Battle returned to graduate school years later for his doctorate, which he received from George Washington University in 1983. His doctoral dissertation was a study of the history of slavery in Washington, D.C.
Career[edit]
After he received his MLS degree, Battle was hired as a reference librarian for Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Collection. While he worked here, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association granted him a fellowship to study in Sierra Leone for one year.[3] In 1974, Battle served as founding curator of the manuscript division before later becoming the university archivist. In 1986, Battle was promoted to director of Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Collection, which is the largest black-owned archive collection of black history and culture in the world.[3]
Battle is known for several published works written throughout his career. Many of his articles have been published in journals and newsletters such as The American Archivist, The Library Quarterly, The Wilson Quarterly, and The Journal of African American History. In 1983, along with Paul Coates and Eleanor Des Virney Sinnette, Battle wrote a collection on black librarians, entitled Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History.[3] With Clifford Muse, Battle published a history of Howard University entitled Howard in Retrospect: Images of the Capstone, published in 1995. And in 2007, Battle co-edited Legacy: Treasures of Black History, which features historic items and documents compiled by several prominent historians.
Throughout his career, Battle has also fought for diversity among archives and archivists, as well as pushing for the study African Americans history. He has lectured and organized symposiums on the importance of African Americans and their contributions to the preservation of black history.[2]
Affiliations[edit]
In addition to publishing and archival work, Battle has also taught history at several institutions such as Howard University, the University of Maryland, and Amherst College.[3] He has also consulted institutions and universities over the years, including on television. On the documentary series, Biography, Battle appeared as a historian on the 1996 episode on Frederick Douglass.[4]
Battle has also remained a member of the Society of American Archivists for his entire career. He has served on many different committees and task forces, including the SAA's Task Force on Diversity.[5] In 1987, Battle was crucial in the forming of the SAA Minorities Roundtable, which later became the Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable. He personally fought for the Roundtable's newsletter and after objections from the SAA on financing a newsletter, Battle proposed that Howard University would cover the costs and the staff would publish and distribute the newsletter for free.[5] The newsletters were available to anyone interested in the topics of archives, manuscripts and collections of people of color. Within a year, they returned to SAA with numbers proving their popularity among not just African Americans. The newsletter was later used as a model for future Roundtables, although it continued to be funded through Howard University and Dr. Thomas Battle.[6]
He was elected onto the SAA Council and served from 2000-2003.[7]
He is an active member of several archives, libraries, museums and history associations.[2]
Awards[edit]
- James Partridge Award, presented by the University of Maryland College of Information Studies (CLIS), 2006[3]
- SAA Fellow Award, presented by the Society of American Archivists, 2005[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ Who's Who among African Americans. 26th edition. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2012. Earlier editions published as Who's Who among Black Americans.[WhoAfA 26]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "SAA: Eight New SAA Fellows Honored (Oct 2005)". www.archivists.org. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 "Thomas Battle's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ↑ "Thomas Battle". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hankins, Rebecca (August 3, 2016). "Archivists and Archives of Color Roundtable (AACR) History". Archivists and Archives of Color Newsletter – via Society of American Archivists
- ↑ Harrison (2017-07-26). "Wilda D. Logan". Archiving in Color. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
- ↑ "Council Members | Society of American Archivists". www2.archivists.org. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ↑ "SAA: Eight New SAA Fellows Honored (Oct 2005)". www.archivists.org. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
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