Mellon Archives Innovation Program #4: The Edward J. Williams Collection

Of the thousands of objects in the Edward J. Williams Collection , the postcards are particularly challenging. At face value they depict the most brutal and violent aspects of antiblack violence through racist stereotype, the romanticization of plantation life, and white supremacist ideation. When flipped over, these postcards contain notes of intimate address, as loved ones pen notes of affection intended to spark joy, thoughtfulness, and kinship. This juxtaposition– between violence and care– embodies the overwhelming force of this collection. The Edward J. Williams Collection contains 4,000 objects of “negrobilia” – mass cultural objects and artifacts that feature stereotypical antiblack images.

For this special program, artist and Mellon Archives Innovation Fellow Yaw Agyeman will preview some of his research on the postcards in the collection. Yaw's talk and performance is titled "Postcards and the sound of ________ in the Ed J. Williams Collection," and will consider the sounds that are…