Scope and arrangement
The Geraldine Wilson papers, dating from 1950s to 1986, document the career of Geraldine Wilson (1931-1986), early childhood specialist, poet, writer and civil rights activist.
The collection holds: personal and family papers; correspondence; writings; poetry; speeches; bibliographies; curricula; conference notes; training manuals; seminar and workshop agendas; project proposals; and research.
The collection documents Wilson's career as a teacher, consultant, contributing speaker and writer on educational issues, and a poet. The files demonstrates her work as an advocate for raising cultural awareness and improving the education of African-American children as well as promoting storytelling as a traditional form of educating youth.
The files for the grant-funded Oral Tradition Project at the New York City Head Start Regional Training Office document the development of the importance of oral history tradition as an art form to support the "intellectual-cognitive, aesthetic, cultural development of young children." The correspondence, memorandums, reports and notes indicate that the goals would include training some parents and Head Start staff as storytellers, and to present the art of storytelling in a positive way.
Of historical interest are the Civil Rights Movement files retained by Wilson. This small section shows the dangers activists faced in the 1960s and, her involvement with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). The files include correspondence, memorandums, newspaper clippings and locally printed publications such as the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Related to the Civil Rights Movement, is Wilson's work to improve the education of African-American children in Mississippi as demonstrated in the Mississippi Education files.
The subject files reflect Wilson's work as an educator and her interests. Topics include African-American culture, early childhood education, children's literature, multi-cultural education, and storytelling. The files may include Wilson's correspondence and research notes; and articles and publications that she collected.
The Audio and Moving Images are mostly recorded educational events, seminars and workshops. This material is restricted pending digitization.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in ten groups: Personal Papers, Oral Tradition Story-Telling, Writings, Head Start Program, Civil Rights, Curriculum, Black Child Development Institute, Subject Files, Consultant's Files, and Audio and Moving Images.