Explore Black History

February 1, 1981

A white plastic audiocassette tape with a recording of the radio program "Lesser But Not Least." The cassette tape has a beige label on which typewritten text on one side reads [TRY OUT RADIO / 2/1/81 / "LESSER BUT NOT LEAST" WHA / RADIO]. The radio show was produced by Dr. Brooks Robinson for a "Tryout Radio," and focuses on "lesser-known" individuals in American history and is divided into three segments.
The first segment discusses the life of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American Catholic saint. In this segment, there is also a fictional dramatization of a conversation between Saint Kateri story and one of her suitors. In the second segment, the narrator moves to a discussion of David Walker's life and the impact of his essay "Appeal to The Colored Peoples of The World." There is also a reading of Henry Highland Garnet's commentary on David Walker's essay, as well as a dramatization of an encounter between Walker and Savannah’s representatives over the "seditious material" Walker wrote. Toward the end of the second segment, "The Star-Spangled Banner" instrumental is played while the narrator describes Walker’s contributions to the abolitionist movement.
The last segment focuses on the contributions of Reies Lopez Tijerina. It is dramatized as a narration by his former wife Patsy Tijerina. Some of the topics they cover are the Mexican-American War of 1846; Mexico’s land grants to settlers; the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; La Alianza; San Joaquín de Chama land grant; the occupation of the Echo Amphitheater; the July 4 March from Albuquerque to Santa Fe; the planned citizen’s arrest of Sanchez on June 5; Reies Tijerina's arrest and the ensuing legal battles; Poor People's March on Washington in 1968; as well as Tijerina's activism post 1968.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Time-based Media - Audio

BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976)
Abolitionist movement
Chicano Movement / El Movimiento

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Contributed in memory of Professor Sarah Webster Fabio (1928-1979), poet, educator, Black Arts Movement icon, and one of the Literary Corner's analysts.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

2010.17.2.1a

audiotapes

© Brooks B. Robinson
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

tape and plastic

H x W: 2 3/4 × 4 1/4 × 5/8 in. (7 × 10.8 × 1.6 cm)
Duration: 00:27:26

Title • Lesser, But Not Least

nmaahc_2010.17.2.1a

NMAAHC

LESSER, BUT NOT LEAST

National Museum of African American History and Culture

CC0

1980s

Robinson, Brooks B. • Tekakwitha, Kateri • Garnet, Henry • Cham, Robert • Tijerina, Reies • Walker, David • Tijerina, Patsy

New York • United States • New Mexico • North and Central America • Wisconsin

Activism • Literature • Abolitionist movement • American West • Religion • BAM (Black Arts Movement 1965-1976) • United States History • Chicano Movement / El Movimiento • Poetry • Radio • Antislavery

African Americans • Catholics

State • Wisconsin • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America • State • New York • State • New Mexico

Sound recordings

Limited Use