After the Civil War, HBCUs pioneered Black education in America.
Family Addition: The Dent Family
Felicia D. Render
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The Amistad Research Center is pleased to house multiple collections of the Dent family of New Orleans. The papers span over one hundred years of family and civil rights history in Louisiana and Texas. An addendum to the Dent Family papers, about the family’s matriarch, Jessie Covington Dent, has been preserved by Amistad Research Center archivists, with funding assistance from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Here are some highlights from the addendum.
Classical concert pianist, educator and devoted community leader, Ernestine Jessie Covington Dent worked tirelessly to assist others throughout her career. Dent significantly contributed to African American classical and operatic music. She graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and was a fellow of the Juilliard Musical Foundation of New York. As the wife of Albert Walter Dent, president of Dillard University, she had three sons, Thomas Covington, Benjamin Albert and Walter Jesse Dent. In addition, Dent served in many civic and community organizations and received numerous awards, honors and citations.
Educator, hospital administrator and president of Dillard University, Albert Walter Dent played a significant role in the development of Dillard University and affected the lives of many African American students who became civil rights activists and leaders. He was also involved in several organizations, including the formation of the United Negro College Fund, an educational assistance organization that provides support to 41 private historically black member colleges and universities.
The addendum to the papers of Ernestine Jessie Covington Dent (1904-2001) and Albert Walter Dent (1904-1984) provides a rich source of documentation of a prominent southern African American family, and covers topics such as education, healthcare, musical traditions and culture in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas. The papers consist of 38 linear feet of personal and collected papers of both individuals and other Covington and Dent family members. The addition to the papers is comprised of articles, biographical information, books, correspondence, news clippings, programs, photographs and family portraits, press releases, press clippings and other collected items, and publications, all offering a wealth of information about the Dent and Covington families, their careers, family histories and their fight for human rights. The papers also provide an excellent source of documentation about Dillard University and Flint-Goodridge Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In essence, the addition to the Dent family papers will continue to provide access to our rich collections at Amistad with bountiful historical treasures.
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
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Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
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