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“Getting on the Negro History Bandwagon”: Selling Black History from World War II to the Dawn of Black Power

West, E James; (2022) “Getting on the Negro History Bandwagon”: Selling Black History from World War II to the Dawn of Black Power. The Journal of African American History , 107 (3) pp. 423-450. 10.1086/719961. Green open access

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Abstract

Drawing on a diverse range of archival material, oral histories, market research literature, and Black periodicals, this article sheds new light on the development of Black history–themed advertising and public outreach campaigns by White-owned corporations from World War II to the dawn of Black Power. While not universally celebrated, corporate Black history campaigns often received tremendous public support and played an important role in promoting better relations between White-owned businesses and Black America. Indeed, when measured against the continued neglect of Black history within the nation’s educational, political, and popular culture, such projects can be argued to have played an intriguing, if largely understudied, role in efforts to relocate Black history from the margins to the mainstream of American society. Nevertheless, through “celebrating” Black history, white businesses also helped to curate it in ways that reinforced gender disparities in historical representation and reified the perceived connections between racial progress and consumer capitalism. Most significantly, these early Black history advertising campaigns set the groundwork for widespread corporate engagement with, and commercialization of, the African American past.

Type: Article
Title: “Getting on the Negro History Bandwagon”: Selling Black History from World War II to the Dawn of Black Power
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1086/719961
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1086/719961
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Arts and Sciences (BASc)
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166049
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