Black African Jews: The Abayudaya of Uganda

In connection with our upcoming Jewish literature book group, "Between Two Worlds" (see last posting) an email from a friend yesterday provided a link to a BBC site that has a slide show about Ugandans who call themselves "Abayudaya", which means "Jews". They have adopted Judaism as their religion, following the lead of their warrior leader Kakungulu who converted to Judaism in 1919, based solely on his reading of the Jewish scriptures. Since then they have connected with other Jews. Oddly, the link I copied here isn't working -- I reach BBC but get an Error 404. Yet the link still works from my email. Oh well, I have now removed the link from here.

I first learned about the Abayudaya several years ago when I came across (and purchased for my husband) a book by Richard Sobol and Jeffrey Summit and an accompanying cd of music by members of the Abayudaya community. Richard Sobol is a photographer, and has an interesting site with more information about and images of the Abayudaya.

Jewish Literature Series at Lincoln University

Lincoln University's LANGSTON HUGHES MEMORIAL LIBRARY (LHML) will host a free and open-to-the public five-part reading and discussion series exploring the theme, Between Two Worlds: Stories of Estrangement and Homecoming. Sponsored by Lincoln University’s Lectures and Recitals Committee, the series is part of a program called Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature - Identity and Imagination, and will explore Jewish literature and culture through scholar-led discussions of five different books.

LHML is one of over 150 libraries nationwide receiving grants to host the series, which was developed by Nextbook and the American Library Association (ALA) . Two local libraries, the Oxford Public Library and the Avon-Grove Public Library, are promoting the program among their users, and the Chester County Office of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia is also a local partner.

“We are delighted to have been chosen to host this unique series that will give our students a chance to discuss themes in Jewish literature with members of the community and with the help of a well-qualified scholar,” said Patrick Hall, Director of the Langston Hughes Memorial Library.

The first program will explore Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language by Eva Hoffman and will be held on Sunday, September 17, 2006 at 3 PM. For details or to register, please contact Special Collections Librarian Susan Pevar (phone: 610-932-8300, ext. 3266 or email spevar@lincoln.edu).

Additional books will be discussed one Sunday afternoon per month at the library, skipping December. Dr. Emilie Passow, Associate Professor, Dept. of English and Philosophy, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, will lead a discussion of the book at each session. Dr. Passow's background in teaching and lecturing on Jewish literature and Jewish studies is extensive, and she has led discussions on these same books previously at the Delaware County Library System.

The complete schedule follows (all programs are at 3 PM on Sunday):
September 17, 2006: Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman
October 22, 2006: Mr. Sammlers Planet by Saul Bellow
November 19, 2006: Out of Egypt by André Aciman
January 21, 2007: The Centaur in the Garden by Moacyr Skliar
February 25, 2007: Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman

The Langston Hughes Memorial Library is named for one of Lincoln University's most famous graduates, the celebrated poet Langston Hughes, who graduated in 1929. The Library houses a collection of more than 185,000 volumes and annually subscribes to approximately 700 periodicals. Its Special Collections contain the Lincoln University Archives as well as an extensive collection of materials representing all aspects of the Black experience, including African-American and African materials.

Walter Wright, Lincoln University’s Fourth President

Walter Livingston Wright, the first acting president (1924-26) and fourth president of Lincoln University (1936-45) became a professor of mathematics at Lincoln University in 1893, a year after receiving his A.B. at Princeton. This was during the presidency of Lincoln University's first president, Isaac Norton Rendall, who was succeeded by his nephew John Rendall in 1905. During John Rendall's presidency Wright was the treasurer of the faculty.

When John Rendall died in 1924 Wright was the almost unanimous choice for the presidency among the alumni, but he was opposed by several conservative board members on the grounds that he was not an ordained Presbyterian minister. He served as Acting President until William Hallock Johnson, a colleague and friend who had the benefit of ordination, was elected president, and Wright assumed the new position of Vice President (while remaining on the teaching faculty).

After Johnson's retirement in 1936 Wright became president and served in that position until 1945, when Horace Mann Bond (father of Julian Bond) became the first Black president of Lincoln University. Under Wright, Lincoln achieved its status as a ‘state-aided’ higher institution in the 1937-39 biennial appropriation bill. By the time Walter Wright retired in 1945, almost half the faculty members were black, including two black women, who were faculty wives and the only women on the faculty. Horace Mann Bond's book Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania (1976) fills in many more details about Walter Wright's career at Lincoln University. Additional sources include the blogger's personal knowledge, in combination with the 1945 yearbook and/or the 1944-45 catalogue (faculty with degrees from LU and Howard in that era are assumed to have been black).

Additional information is also available online. The Langston Hughes Memorial Library has links on its website to pdf files for the Lincoln University Herald , a university newsletter (1894-1936), with catalogue issues between the years of 1919-1936. These are searchable, year-by-year, and it is possible to enter "Wright" as a search term and find him in both the newsletters and catalogues. The following page has links to the specific issues: http://www.lincoln.edu/library/specialcollections/herald.html