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GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS
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MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Wilmington 1898 — An American Coup

Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.

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BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 4 strongest Black History matches.
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NMAAHC

Corona panel designed for NMAAHC (Type C: 75% opacity)

Date
ca. 2013
Designed by
Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, American, founded 2008
Sir David Adjaye, British, born 1966
J. Max Bond Jr., American, 1935 - 2009
Philip G. Freelon, American, 1953 - 2019
SmithGroupJJR, American, founded 1853
Manufactured by
Peerless Pattern Works, Inc., founded 1923
Morel Industries, founded 1917
Dura Industries, American, ca. 1985
Northstar Contracting, Inc., American
Commissioned by
National Museum of African American History and Culture, American, founded 2003
Description
An openwork cast aluminum panel of the type used to fabricate the cladding that covers the exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, located on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The panel's bronze color is the final finish, a Custom Artisan 3.5 in a 5-coat Kynar system, a costum Valspare mixture used for each layer of the 5-coats, and is the same as the color of the panels installed on the NMAAHC building. Panels with varying levels of opacity are used on each side of the building, to regulate the amount of light that enters the building. This panel is the Type C design, with an opacity or density of 75% (25% open). This panel was fabricated at the same time as the panels installed on the building.
The tooling for the Corona panels was made at Peerless Pattern Works in Portland, Oregon. The panels were cast at Morel Industries in Portland, Oregon. After painting, the panels were sent to Cleveland, Ohio to Northstar Contracting for assembly onto carrier frames prior to installation on site.
The panel sometimes is referred to as a "corona panel," because these panels encapsulate the stacked upper levels of the building's design, referred to as the "corona" levels by the architects. The stacked shape of the building itself was designed to relfect the stacked top portions of Yoruba carved wood columns by Olowe of Ise found on traditional buildings in Nigeria. This top portion is known as a "capital" in architectural vocabulary, and the architects also use the words "crown" and "corona" to refer to the design inspiration they gained from this top portion of Yoruba column.
Place collected
Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
Topic
African American
African diaspora
Architecture
Design
Local and regional
Museums
Ornamentation
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
Buildings and Structures
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2016.41.2
Type
facades
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
cast aluminum coated with vinyl paint
Dimensions
H x W x D: 63 × 41 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (160 × 104.8 × 3.8 cm)
Title
Object Name • Corona panel designed for NMAAHC (Type C: 75% opacity)
Record ID
nmaahc_2016.41.2
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
CORONA PANEL DESIGNED FOR NMAAHC (TYPE C: 75% OPACITY)
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
2010s
Name
Bond, J. Max • Peerless Pattern Works, Inc. • Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup • Freelon, Philip G. • Morel Industries • National Museum of African American History and Culture • Northstar Contracting, Inc. • Adjaye, David • Dura Industries • SmithGroupJJR
Place
District of Columbia • United States • North and Central America • Washington
Topic
African diaspora • Design • Architecture • Museums • Ornamentation
Culture
African Americans • Africans
Geo Location
City • Washington • State • District of Columbia • Country • United States • Continent • North and Central America
Type
Façades
Online Media Type
Images
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Media

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

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Corona panel designed for NMAAHC (Type C: 75% opacity)

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Bootsy Collins Space Bass guitar owned by Bootsy Collins

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who was the first African-American woman millionaire in the United States?

Madam C.J. Walker