Reflections '71 / Dignity Femininity Pride [Spine / cover title].

[Atlanta, Georgia]: [Spelman College], [1971]. 12¼” x 9”. Decorated cloth over boards. Pp. 200. Very good minus due to covers moderately soiled; corners chipped and bumped. Internally very good plus with the rare dogear or spot; penciled amendment to one page.

This is a rare issue of a yearbook from a Black women's HBCU, Spelman College (SC) in Atlanta. It notably documents the senior year of celebrated author Tina McElroy Ansa, and is itself a work of art, adorned with gorgeous photography and messages of hope.

SC is the nation's oldest private historically Black liberal arts institution for women. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, it was renamed in honor of major donor John D. Rockefeller's in-laws. It has been recognized as the top producer of Black women with STEM PhDs, and notable alumni include author Alice Walker, political leader Stacey Abrams and Tina McElroy Ansa. Ansa was the first Black woman on the staff of the Atlanta Constitution, wrote for the Los Angeles Times, among other publications, and was a regular contributor to the CBS Sunday Morning Series with her essays “Postcards from Georgia.” Her first novel, Baby of the Family, was named a notable Book of the Year by the New York Times, and her works have made the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults and the African American Bestsellers List. She founded a publishing house for Black literature as well as the film company that released her first novel's adaptation, for which she also wrote the screenplay. Ansa died in 2024.

This yearbook has beautiful full color photographic images, as well as artistic black and whites, with inspiring, poetic text throughout. Along with standard fare like student portraits (a former owner penciled Ansa's married name under her given one), there are a slew of larger photos, captioned with great detail, showing faculty and staff, student groups and dozens of examples of sights and life on campus. We're shown the “Folk Dance Troupe,” enormous Glee Club, “Sisters In Blackness,” Alpha Kappa Alpha and other Greek organizations and “the coronation of a queen, a Black queen.” There are great internal shots of dorms at “Open House,” the Atlanta-Morehouse-Spelman Players, guest speakers and young women engaged in the multitude of moments that comprise a college life.

A rare and stunning HBCU yearbook with a notable alumna. OCLC shows one holding of this issue and a total of only three others, one per institution. Very good -. Item #9577

Price: $250.00