:Clarence L. Irving
{{short description|American Cultural Archivist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Clarence L. Irving
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|08|21}}
| birth_place = Prince George County, Virginia, U.S.
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| death_date = March 2014 (age 90)
| death_place = Jamaica, Queens, New York City
| instrument =
| genre =
| occupation = Cultural Archivist
| years_active =
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| past_member_of = York College - Black American Heritage Foundation
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}
Clarence L. Irving, Sr. (1924–2014) was an American cultural activist and mentor who made significant contributions to African-American history and heritage.
Life
Irving was born on August 21, 1924, in Prince George County, Virginia, and moved to New York City after completing his early education.[https://www.thehistorymakers.org/sites/default/files/A2013_198_EAC.pdf Irving, Clarence L., Sr., 1924-2014] The
HistoryMakers. Retrieved March 14, 2023 His great-great-great-great-great-grandfather served as an assistant to William Claiborne, a surveyor in Jamestown, Virginia. His progenitor was one of the original twenty Africans who were dropped off by the Dutch in the 1620s and was selected by William Claiborne to be his helper when he was a teenager.{{cite web | url=https://oralhistory.brooklynhistory.org/interviews/irving-clarence-20080926/ | title=Irving, Clarence (2008/09/26) }}
Irving worked as a mechanist at the U.S. Naval Yard from 1944 to 1953, and during this time, he also organized and coached youth baseball teams. He founded the Bisons in 1953, which became a successful team in the Brooklyn Kiwanis League. The Bisons won the New York State Kiwanis Baseball Senior Division Championship in 1955, with Irving as the first African American manager and coach to play at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York. Irving's talent for coaching elevated the level of competition for the team, which was named after Howard University's team. The Bisons played their home games on Brooklyn's Parade Ground adjacent to Prospect Park.Robert D. Parmet. (2018). [https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&context=yc_pubs Clarence Irving and the Rediscovery of Black America] In 1956 He left sandlot baseball and founded the Bison Athletic Club, which served as a mentorship program for young people in the Jamaica, Queens community. Through the club, Irving worked to promote physical fitness, discipline, and academic achievement among young people, while also providing them with positive role models and a supportive community.
Cultural archivist
Irving's interest in stamps and advocacy for greater representation of African Americans through postage stamps led to his proposal for a stamp honoring a prominent black woman in 1975.{{cite web | url=https://www.esperstamps.org/african-american-women-on-stamps | title=African American Women on Stamps }} This proposal, along with others, helped to raise awareness of the need for greater diversity in U.S. postage stamps. However, the first stamp in the Black Heritage Series,{{cite web | url=https://www.esperstamps.org/black-heritage-series-history | title=Black Heritage Series History }} featuring Harriet Tubman, was not actually issued until 1978.[https://qns.com/2001/03/york-college-honors-cambria-heights-activist/ York College honors]{{cite web|url=https://www.edhelper.com/BlackHistory3728.htm |title=Famous African Americans |publisher=Edhelper.com |date= |access-date=2023-03-14}}{{cite web | url=https://about.usps.com/publications/pub354/welcome.htm | title=Publication 354 - African Americans on Stamps }}
In 1975 Irving prepared a pamphlet called the "Black American Heritage Trail" in preparation for the United States Bicentennial in 1976 for York College. The pamphlet documents a historical journey through St. Albans and Jamaica, Queens, highlighting the locations of significant black American heritage sites, including the location of the first black settlement and the home of Count Basie.
On December 1, 1975, at a meeting of Queens community planning board No.2, Irving outlined his vision of the Bi-Centennial as he proposed several projects. Foremost among them was the idea for a "pathway and heritage trail" through Southeast Queens, chronicling the history of famous Black individuals in the area. York College aided in preparing a comprehensive brochure. The brochure, titled "Black American Heritage Trail of Landmarks in Southeast Queens, Jamaica, New York", was published in November 1976. It contained descriptions and photographs of ten historic sites. Emblazoned on its cover was the proclamation: "Project of the New York City Bicentennial Corporation.""Clarence Irving and the Rediscovery of Black America" by Robert D. Parmet (cuny.edu)
In 1984, he founded the Black American Heritage Foundation (BAHF).{{cite journal | url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/yc_pubs/209/ | title=Clarence Irving and the Rediscovery of Black America | journal=Publications and Research | date=May 18, 2018 | last1=Parmet | first1=Robert }}{{cite web|url=https://www.york.cuny.edu/library/about/music-history-archive|title=Music History Archive — York College / CUNY|website=www.york.cuny.edu}} He founded the Music History Archive in 1989, which serves as a repository for artifacts related to musicians.{{cite web|url=https://archives.york.cuny.edu/pandoras-box/december-1989-january-1990-pdf/view|title=December 1989-January 1990.pdf — Library Archives - York College|website=archives.york.cuny.edu}}{{Cite journal|url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/yc_pubs/209|title=Clarence Irving and the Rediscovery of Black America|first=Robert|last=Parmet|date=May 18, 2018|journal=Publications and Research}}
Honors
File:USPS Jamaica 20181003 171026.jpg
Irving received several awards, including the 1999 Carter G. Woodson Award and the 2000 Humanitarian Award from Omega Psi Phi fraternity. In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives renamed the U.S. Postal Service Office in Jamaica, New York the "Clarence L. Irving, Sr. Post Office Building" in his honor."H.R. 4826 — 110th Congress: To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 88-40 164th Street ...." www.GovTrack.us. 2007. March 17, 2023
Death
He retired from Con Ed where he had worked for 32 years. Irving died in March 2014 at the age of 90.[https://oralhistory.brooklynhistory.org/interviews/irving-clarence-20080926/ Interviews. Irving Clarence]
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/splash.htm?scope=aaamc Archives of African American Music and Culture]
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Category:African-American activists