"Community Conversation with Diane Ragsdale and Marilyn Clark" Program

Object number2023.001.0015

Date02/11/2023

ClassificationsOral Histories

Oral history interview subject Marilyn Clark

Oral history interview subject Diane Ragsdale

Oral history interviewer Vicki Meek

ObjectOral history

Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

MediumBorn digital (.mp4 file), Born digital (.wav file)

DimensionsDuration: 101 Minutes

Collections

Civil Rights Movement
All Online Objects
Oral History Collection

DescriptionVideotaped public program entitled "Community Conversation with Diane Ragsdale and Marilyn Clark." Longtime community activists Marilyn Clark and Diane Ragsdale discussed civil rights and race relations in Dallas with individual presentations followed by a conversation moderated by Dallas artist Vicki Meek. This program was presented by The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in partnership with the Dallas African American Museum. Public program conducted at the African American Museum in Dallas on February 11, 2023. The program is one hour and forty-one minutes long.

Curatorial Commentary

Marilyn Clark is founding director of Black Cinematheque, a long-running local film series that showcased independent filmmakers from the African Diaspora. She also created the Dallas Black Power Legacy Project Collection at the Dallas Public Library to preserve the history of local Black Power and Black Consciousness movements. Clark remains a respected archivist, educator, historian and activist in the Dallas community.

A native Dallasite, the Honorable Diane Ragsdale served on the Dallas City Council from 1984 to 1991. A student of legendary civil rights activist Juanita Craft, Ragsdale began her activism with the NAACP Youth Council in Dallas. She was later appointed to the Dallas City Plan Commission and served as managing director of the Innercity Community Development Corporation. A transcript of a 2011 oral history with Ms. Ragsdale may be found on the Portal to Texas History: [Oral History Interview with Diane Ragsdale] - The Portal to Texas History. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Curatorial Commentary

This "Community Conversation" was part of a series of partnership programs with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and the Dallas African American Museum in 2022-2023. A panel discussion, "Civil Rights in Dallas," may be viewed here: "Civil Rights in Dallas" Program – Works – Oral History Collection – Collections – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Another panel discussion, "The Legacy of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report," may be viewed here: “The Legacy of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report” Program – Works – Oral History Collection – Collections – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Stephen Fagin, Curator