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The
Storytellers’
Hat:
Catherine
Blackwell
Enriched
Our
Lives
By
Laydell
Wood
Harper/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT,
MI (Tell
Us Det)
-
Catherine
C.
Blackwell
one of
Detroit’s
most
beloved
crown
jewels
passed
away on
Saturday,
February
1, 2014.
Ms.
Blackwell
was 94
years
old. Of
course,
to look
at her
you
would
have
never
guessed
her age.
Her warm
smile
and
delightful
personality
were
contagious.
Even in
her 90’s
she lead
a
wonderfully
active
life.
She
continued
to
attend
many of
the
social
events,
particularly
those
associated
with the
arts. If
you have
visited
one of
our
local
museums
lately,
(The
Detroit
Institute
of Arts
or the
Charles
Wright
Museum
of
African
and
African
American
History)
you have
most
likely
had the
pleasure
of
viewing
pieces
from the
African
Art
Collection
of
Catherine
C.
Blackwell,
particularly
her
famous
Storytellers’
Hat.
For
those
that did
not know
Catherine
C.
Blackwell
or know
of her,
she
spent
her life
giving
back to
the
community.
She was
well
known
for her
extensive
African
Art
collection.
The
walls of
her home
are
decorated
throughout
with her
treasured
African
Art
pieces;
and
paintings
each
with
special
meaning
and
specially
selected
from one
of her
many
trips to
Africa.
And one
of her
most
prized
trophies
was her
African
Grey
Parakeet
“Akua”
that she
brought
from
Africa
nearly
40 years
ago.
They had
been
together
for so
long
that
Akua
makes
sounds
of
laughter
exactly
like Ms.
Blackwell.
A former
Detroit
School
teacher,
students
were her
special
passion.
Several
years
ago, on
a
frigidly
cold
winter
evening,
the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
rotunda
was
filled
to
capacity
with
students
(elementary
school
through
high
school)
and
their
parents.
Many of
whom
attended
the
Catherine
C.
Blackwell
School
(named
in honor
of Ms.
Blackwell).
They all
came out
in
support
of Ms.
Blackwell
to
launch
the
Teaching
Collection
of
Catherine
C.
Blackwell.
In her
remarks
Ms.
Blackwell
said,
“My
former
students
are all
around
me, in
fact the
young
man that
just
introduced
me was a
student
in my
third
grade
class.
He just
recently
told me
about
the
secret
that he
told his
dad one
morning
before
coming
to
school.
He said,
I’m
going to
marry
Ms.
Blackwell
when I
get
big.”
She was
always
pleasant,
and
always
smiling.
Her
students
knew how
much she
cared.
Her
students
were the
impetus
for her
65 trips
to 42
countries
on the
continent.
Blackwell’s
desire
to give
her
students
a sense
of pride
in their
African
heritage
was the
driving
force.
Each
time she
returned
from
Africa
with new
items
for her
collection.
What she
didn’t
realize
at the
time was
her
strong
desire
to
educate
her
students
in the
classroom
would
result
in
educating
the
entire
community.
Her goal
was
always
to
educate;
she
never
thought
of
collecting
simply
for
show.
“I could
never
afford
what
you’d
call
museum-quality
pieces,”
Blackwell
commented
in a
recent
interview.
“I
looked
for and
brought
pieces
that I
found
interesting,
beautiful
or that
served a
purpose”.
Ms.
Blackwell’s
personal
collection
consists
of
approximately
500
works.
Her
collection
is a
wonderful
legacy…
her
philosophy
and zest
for life
was of
value to
everyone.
We must
all
remember
her
favorite
phrase
“A day
without
laughter
is a day
lost.”
Born in
Detroit,
Ms.
Blackwell
graduated
from
Northwestern
High
School.
In 1942
she
earned a
B.A. in
social
work
from
Howard
University.
She
worked
as a
statistical
analyst
with the
Washington
Housing
Association
and the
United
States
Health
Department
before
returning
to
Detroit
as a
caseworker
in the
Department
of
Public
Welfare.
In 1955
Blackwell
earned
her M.A.
in
education
from
Wayne
State
University
and went
to work
as an
elementary,
creative
and
performing
arts
teacher
in the
Detroit
Public
Schools.
Blackwell
rose
through
the
teaching
ranks
and
became
an
administrator
in the
Detroit
Public
Schools,
serving
as both
black
studies
coordinator
and
African/African-American
resource
consultant.
She also
served
as the
director
of the
African-American
Curriculum
Center
at Wayne
State
University
and as a
nationwide
consultant
and
lecturer
in
African-American
history
and
curriculum.
Ms.
Blackwell
was also
a
dedicated
advocate
for
civil
rights.
She
worked
in a
Jackson,
Mississippi
freedom
school
in the
1960's
and was
named
chair of
the
Michigan
Civil
Rights
Commission
in 1973.
Ms.
Blackwell
has been
recognized
in many
ways for
her
efforts
on
behalf
of
Detroit's
children.
In 1993
she was
inducted
into the
Michigan
Women's
Hall of
Fame. In
1992 the
Detroit
Public
Schools
named in
her
honor a
school,
the
Catherine
C.
Blackwell
Institute
of
International
Studies,
Commerce
and
Technology.
She was
also
awarded
the
Whitney
M. Young
Jr.
Memorial
Award
from the
Detroit
Public
Library,
the
Sojourner
Truth
Award
from the
Detroit
Club of
the
National
Association
of Negro
Business
and
Professional
Women's
Clubs,
the
Outstanding
Women in
Education
Award
from the
Women's
Lawyers
Association,
and the
Ford
Freedom
Award
from the
Charles
Wright
Museum
of
African
and
African-American
Art of
Detroit.
Ms.
Blackwell
was a
treasured
member
emeritus
of the
Detroit
Institute
of Arts
Auxiliary,
Friends
of
African
and
African
American
Art.
Funeral
services
will be
held on
Saturday,
February
8, at
the
Cathedral
Church
on
Woodward.
The time
of
service
and
other
details
have not
been
finalized.
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