The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) is the largest and most comprehensive repository of books, documents, and ephemera on the global Black experience, including the personal and official papers of Kwame Nkrumah, Paul Robeson, Alain Locke, Mary Frances Berry, Dr. Benjamin Mays, Vernon Jordon, and Amiri Baraka, to name but a few from its over seven hundred collections. It was founded in 1914 as the Moorland Library and became a research center within Howard University in 1973, consisting of the University Archives Division, the Manuscripts Division, Library, Museum, and the Black Press Archive. Our mission is to provide access to history through diverse formats and to preserve it for generations to come.
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Artist Talk & Exhibition Opening
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, in collaboration with the Howard University Gallery of Art and Art Bridges, presents Necessary Means: Adreinne Waheed on Gathering & Power, an exhibition examining the dynamism, beauty, and political force of collective Black life across the African Diaspora through the photography of Adreinne Waheed.
Opening October 14 at the Howard University Museum in Founders Library, Necessary Means brings together Waheed’s documentary street photography with selections from the Waheed Photo Archive, her extensive collection of found portraits documenting African American life from the Civil War to the present. The exhibition traces the relationship between Waheed’s formative experiences at Howard University and a photographic practice centered on protest, joy, community, and collective action.
Curated by Kathryn Coney-Ali, executive director of the Howard University Gallery of Art, and Dr. Melanee C. Harvey-Fryar, associate professor of art history in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, the exhibition takes its title from traditions of anti-colonial and Black liberation thought that call upon communities to harness the tools necessary to confront systems of oppression.
2:15 p.m. | Artist Talk with Adreinne Waheed
College of Fine Arts Recital Hall, 3rd Floor
Howard University
4:00 p.m. | Exhibition Opening & Reception
Howard University Museum at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center
Founders Library, Howard University
Following the artist talk, guests are invited to Founders Library for the exhibition opening and reception.
Free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.
REGISTER FOR THE OCTOBER 14 PROGRAM
Join the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center for Emergence: From the Mecca, Many Voices, a day-long program presented as part of the International Black Writers Festival.
Featuring emerging student writers, actors, and dancers from Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and College of Arts and Sciences, Emergence will showcase the creativity and interdisciplinary work of Howard students through performances, workshops, talkbacks, and a roundtable conversation on interdisciplinarity.
The day will also include the IBWF Book Fair on the Yard, bringing together books, ideas, and the Howard community as part of the festival.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Founders Library and the Yard
Additional program details will be announced as the event approaches.
“The Price of Exclusion” delves into the impact of Black physicians on the healthcare system during segregation, drawing from records from The Moorland-Spingarn Research center News4’s Jummy Olabanji speaks to the author.
Watch the Interview Here
The Moorland, the newsletter of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, highlights the people, partnerships, and programs advancing MSRC’s mission of preserving, interpreting, and sharing the global Black experience. Each issue serves as a record of the work happening across the Center, bringing together updates from our collections, scholarship, public programming, and community engagement efforts. The latest edition reflects a season of continued growth and collaboration, showcasing the energy and momentum that define MSRC’s work across campus and beyond.
This issue includes updates from recent lectures and scholar presentations, along with highlights from the Manuscripts Division and Howard University Archives as they continue to expand access to and preserve key collections. It also features major institutional milestones, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation’s generous $660,000 investment in MSRC’s continued growth and preservation efforts, as well as ongoing planning for the 200th anniversary of the Black Press. Together, these efforts reflect the breadth of MSRC’s partnerships and the continued work to activate and share the Center’s resources with scholars, students, and the broader community.
Explore the latest issue of The Moorland
The Season One finale of On the Yard features historian and author Ibram X. Kendi in conversation with MSRC Director Dr. Benjamin Talton. In this episode, they discuss Kendi’s new book Chain of Ideas, the origins of the “great replacement theory,” his scholarship on anti-Black racism, and his ongoing work at Howard University advancing research on Black history, social justice, and public policy.
🎧 Listen now
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Simplecast
Howard University | March 17–18, 2027
Hosted by the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and the Black Press Research Collective
In March 1827, just over fifty years after the United States Declaration of Independence, Freedom’s Journal, the first Black newspaper in North America, declared: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.”
In March 2027, we mark the bicentennial of the Black Press, celebrating 200 years of Black journalism as one of the most vital and enduring institutions in American public life.
This two-day symposium at Howard University, home of the Black Press Archives, will convene scholars, journalists, archivists, artists, and students to critically examine the past, present, and futures of the Black Press.
Building on the 2026 volume A Full Measure of Freedom: The Black Press at 200, the symposium treats the bicentennial not only as a moment of reflection, but also as an opportunity to assess the ongoing significance of Black journalism as “the conscience of our nation.”
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words for individual papers and panels engaging one or more of the following themes:
The development and influence of the Black Press as an instrument of democracy, protest, and cultural politics. The Black Press as an engine of local and global change.
How Black publications speak to the present political and cultural moment, including questions of ownership, funding, and sustainability.
Archival practice and preservation efforts. Digital and social media as sites for sustaining and reimagining Black journalistic traditions.
We particularly encourage submissions from community scholars, independent researchers, and practitioners.
Symposium Dates: March 17–18, 2027
Submission Information
Please submit proposals or direct questions to:
mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org
In honor of Black History Month and Howard University’s upcoming Charter Day, Gwen Tolbart of FOX 5 DC visited campus to highlight the University’s historic legacy and the work of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
The segment, “Exploring Historic Howard University,” shines a light on Howard’s iconic campus and features our Director, Dr. Benjamin Talton, discussing the Center’s impact, collections, and enduring role in preserving and interpreting Black history.
It is a meaningful spotlight on the scholarship, stewardship, and cultural leadership happening at MSRC every day.
🎥 Watch the full segment here:
The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) is proud to partner with LegacyHistoryPride (LHP) to release an exclusive Black colorway of the “Von” Rugby Shirt.
As the largest and most comprehensive repository documenting the global Black experience, MSRC plays a vital role in preserving, protecting, and sharing the history and culture of the African diaspora. This special collaboration with LHP celebrates that mission and ensures its continuation—a portion of proceeds from every shirt will directly support MSRC and its programming.
Support the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. Shop the collaboration today.
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