The Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora
The Pennsylvania State University Libraries has recently acquired the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora, which contains materials relating to African-American, African, Latin American, and Caribbean history and culture.
As a fourth grader, Charles Blockson began collecting historical items related to African Americans, at first searching through Salvation Army and Goodwill stores before graduating to more serious collecting venues like antiquarian bookstores. For many years, Blockson has been devoted to the recovery and preservation of black history, forming not one but two great collections in the process. In 1984, Blockson donated to Temple University the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American History Collection, the result of many years that Blockson spent haunting bookstores, scouting out book sales, and otherwise following his interest with resolve. He currently serves as curator emeritus of the Temple collection.
More recently, but no less actively, Blockson has formed a second collection on black history, which now forms part of the Penn State’s Special Collections Library. Penn State’s Blockson Collection focuses not only on African-Americana, but more broadly documents the African Diaspora, the pattern of human migration that reaches back hundreds of years and traces the movement of blacks from their African homelands to areas around the world, most notably in South America (Brazil and Guyana, for example), the Caribbean, and, of course, in the United States.
In his memoir, Damn Rare: The Memoirs of an African American Bibliophile (Tracy, California.: Quantum Leap Publisher, 1998), he says that his love of books was spawned through his rich family background in African-American culture, leading him to be one of our nation's leading African-American collectors of African and African-American books. Blockson has written several essays and books centered on African American history, especially in Pennsylvania, including Liberty Bell Era: The African American Story and The Underground Railroad. "The preservation of black history has become my lifework," says Blockson.
Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Blockson began his academic career as one of Penn State’s best athletes in track and field, as well as football. He graduated from Penn State and holds an honorary doctorate from Villanova University. In the midst of his career, Blockson was a teacher for the Norristown Area School District, where he taught multicultural and diversity education in the state of Pennsylvania and was the first inductee into Norristown school district's Hall of Fame and Hall of Champions. Blockson went on to lecture and teach African American culture all over the world.
Blockson has been a friend to the Pennsylvania State University for many years and was most recently honored as one of the 2007 Penn State Distinguished Alumni. He has served on the Penn State Alumni Association's Alumni Council and the University Libraries Development Advisory Board. In 1981, he received an Alumni Fellow Award.
He is a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Before Columbus Foundation and holds multiple honorary doctorates. Blockson has also launched a project to erect sixty-four historical markers commemorating the contribution of African Americans to Philadelphia. He lives in Pennsylvania and has one daughter, Noelle.
Charles Blockson’s works include, among many others, Black Genealogy (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1977); Pennsylvania's Black History (Philadelphia: Portfolio Associates, 1981); Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad (New York: Hippocrene, 1984); and The Underground Railroad (New York: Prentice-Hall Press, 1987); (Harrisburg, Pa.: RB Books, 2003); The Haitian Revolution: Celebrating the First Black Republic (Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning Co. Publishers, 2004).
Cataloging of the Blockson Collection began in the fall of 2007. Beginning in January 2008, the new Charles L. Blockson Room, located on the third floor of Pattee Library, West, will be open limited hours (Thursdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.). In the fall of 2008, the University Libraries will initiate more active service in support of this valuable resource.
Inquiries and requests for materials may be directed to the Special Collections Library, 104 Paterno Library, (814) 865-1793, http://www.libraries.psu.edu/speccolls/.
Researchers may search the growing holdings of the collection by choosing the Advanced Search in the CAT, selecting Special Collections in the "In Library" box, and then choosing Rare Books & Mss, Blockson Collection and Blockson Collection Vault in the "Location" box.
