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OAKLAND, Calif. (January 14, 2003) -- The Robert C. Maynard Oral History Collection will make its California premier at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland February 22, 1-3pm with a panel discussion featuring several Bay Area journalists during Black History Month. The oral history collection is part of the Maynard Institute History Project, a unique undertaking that documents and preserves the stories of those courageous African American journalists who broke into general circulation media during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Interviewees include Ed Bradley, of "60 Minutes," Charlayne Hunter-Gault, of CNN, and Institute co-founder Nancy Maynard. The February 22nd panel discussion will mark the project’s West Coast expansion. Some of the participants will be added to the collection, including legendary television broadcasters Belva Davis, Ben Williams, Dennis Richmond and former Oakland Tribune journalist Austin Long Scott. MIJE and AAMLO will also use the opportunity to announce the Robert C. Maynard Oral History Collection as a permanent part of the library. AAMLO is the perfect collaborator for this event. The library, which opened last year, is dedicated to discovering, preserving, interpreting and sharing the historical and cultural experiences of African Americans in California and the West for present and future generations. At a time when diversity in journalism is under assault these accounts demonstrate the value of diverse voices in our nation’s newsrooms and present a more "whole" account of American journalism. The project also helps ensure that all aspiring journalists know who came before them. "In looking at this history, we felt it was necessary to capture the experiences and stories these historical journalists had to tell," said Institute President Dori J. Maynard. "There is so much history untold in the lives and experiences of these journalists. We just couldn’t let that history disappear." Many of the journalists featured in the project rose to prominence at a time when for the first time the cry "white reporters out" was heard throughout black communities. That lead to the story of race in America’s exploding ghettos being told by the new faces in the media -- the black reporters. The late Robert C. Maynard was, in many respects, the most prominent of that group. He first made his mark at the Washington Post and went on to become the publisher of the Oakland Tribune newspaper, the first African American to own and publish a major metropolitan daily in the country. The Institute that now bears his name is dedicated to helping the news media reflect the nation's diversity in their staffing, content and business operations. Originally named The Institute for Journalism Education, MIJE was renamed in1993 to Maynard, its first chairman. |