Benin Bronzes at Ly Benson's Gallery & Studio

Benin Bronzes
Ly Benson's Gallery, Beaufort, SC

Museums and galleries are essential for me when visiting any state. I was on my way to St. Helena Island, South Carolina, to visit the historic Penn Center.  The gallery of Ly Benson caught my attention. My breath was taken away once I entered the gallery and saw all the beautiful masterpieces of artwork and antiques. I met the owner Rev. Kenneth Hodges who shared so much history with me in such a short time. This collection of brass sculptures depicts the capture and suffering of being enslaved and is one of his oldest pieces in his collection. The artwork, sculptures, and antiques all tell a story.  You should visit the gallery if you ever get the chance to visit St. Helena Island, South Carolina. It is well worth the drive and time. The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Ebo State, Nigeria.

A New York Nonprofit Restitution Study Group (RSG)  filed a lawsuit to block the Smithsonian from repatriating it's Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. The suit argues that the heirs of American enslaved descendants have as mis to the Benin Bronzes as the Nigerian government. 

A statement made Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, founder and  executive director said that "We study the bronzes as scholars, students, and descendants of the people who made them." We need access to them to study them she explained. "We suffer a concrete and imminent injury as a result of this transfer,"

Dr. Antoinette Harrell
Ly Benson's Art Gallery
Beaufort, SC

African Methodist Episcopal Churches Made A Donation to CORE

Nellie Turner Berry Collection

This newspaper article was found in the Nellie Berry collection. Nellie was an influential African American woman in Ponchatoula and New Orleans, Louisiana. Nellie was a member of Union Bethel AME Church on Thalia Street in New Orleans, Louisiana after she left Ponchatoula and made New Orleans, La., her home.

According to her granddaughter Lillian Bates, Nellie attended church in Ponchatoula as well. Unfortunately, Lillian can't recall the name of the church in Ponchatoula. All the newspaper clippings and other records in Nellie collection hold the key to some very important church and political history for African American progress during the Civil Rights Movement. 

These influential Religious leaders donated a check in the amount of $635.00 dollars to James McCain, field director for  The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). The article doesn't give us the date the donation was made.  The article states that's that the check was presented at St. James AME Church.

Nellie Turner Berry
Photo Courtesy: Lillian Bates

Nellie saved another newspaper article about Mahalia Jackson performing at a concert and benefit dinner to raise money for Union Bethel AME Church when fell victim to a fire. Rev. Lutrelle was in high hopes that the concert and benefit dinner would pay off the four thousand dollars mortgage they taken out for renovations after the fire. Mahalia was joined by her longtime friend Elliot Von Joseph Veal an instructor of music at Woodson Junior High School.  He brought with him a chorus of singers from numerous of New Orleans churches.

Reverend Lutrelle Grice Long opened the doors of Union Bethel to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Many  Civil Rights activities too place at Union Bethel under his leadership.  A fire destroyed the building in  1962.  According to Union Bethel A.M.E. Church website, it is said that Dr. King spoke before out to the congregation in 1961 and called for " a new emancipation." He urged the President of the United States to issue an executive order to make segregation unconstitutional by way of the 14th amendment. In 2004 during the 75th birthday commemoration, President George W. Bush spoke before the congregation about Dr. King's legacy.

I'm honored to know that a native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana was a member of a powerful church that played a major role in the Civil Right Movement in the Deep South. I'm anxious to know what else can be found in her collection that can shed some light on her role in the Civil Rights movement.

The 1,500 seating capacity of the Union Bethel auditorium was particularly important during the Civil Rights Movement.  There notable mass meetings were held at Union Bethel. Several Pastors of the Historic St. Peter A.M.E. Church is present in this photograph as well; Rev. T. Gaines, and Reven, F. B. Hitchens. 

After the Civil Rights rally at the Municipal Auditorium was banned by court order, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) held a prayer meeting in Congo Square outside the auditorium Dec. 15, 1961. They then proceeded to Union Bethel A.M.E. Church, St. Liberty at Thalia. The Rev. Avery Alexander, in in the dark overcoat and gray suit, let the procession. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke at the assembly. (Photo by Terry Friedman, The Time-Picayune archives) Terry Friedman.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/ea7eacec-b1a5-4dca-a5f4-3bfd129d15b4

Lillian Bates and Nellie Berry Collection

New Orleans, Time-Picayune Newspaper, June 11, 1966