Darlene Clark Hine discusses the Black Women in the Middle West Project, an effort she spearheaded to preserve documentary evidence of the social and cultural contributions of black women to the American Midwest and which is housed at the Indiana Historical Society. Her goal is to include the accomplishments and roles of black women in local and regional history, especially in school textbooks, so that black women can receive recognition and legitimacy.
In the second segment [14:00], novelist George Lamming discusses literature and third world culture, describing the efforts of modern African novelists to correct misconceptions about their cultures that were perpetrated by the writings of Joseph Conrad, who, Lamming says, used Africa as a metaphor for corruption of the soul and imperial enterprise. Rather than looking at its people as individuals, these powerful metaphors presented a negative image of them that modern writers are correcting.
At the time of this interview, Hine, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1986-87), was professor of history at Purdue University.
Lamming was a novelist and visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
