WASHINGTON — In the days since the passing of Nelson Mandela, a steady stream of people — some from as far as Germany and France — have journeyed to Howard University’s campus to pay homage to the freedom fighter by touring a photo exhibit of his life.
“Nelson Mandela: Character, Comrade, Leader, Prisoner, Negotiator, Statesmen” has been at Howard’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center since Oct. 31, on loan from the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 37-panel exhibit chronicles Mandela’s incredible rise from village life to his election as the country’s first Black president.
“The entire exhibit tells a brilliant story of Nelson Mandela’s incredible evolution,” says Olivia Bartley, 43, of Paris, who recently toured the exhibit with several friends. “You get the sense that he was not one-dimensional at all.”
Dr. Howard Dodson, director of Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and the Howard Libraries, says that it makes sense that the exhibit — scheduled to remain on campus until April 27 — would make its debut at Howard before traveling on a multi-city tour across the United States.
“Howard University was very centrally involved in the anti-apartheid movement,” says Dodson, who was chiefly responsible for getting the exhibit to Howard. “The alliance and connection between faculty and students at Howard and the struggling people of South Africa was one of some long standing.”
In 1994, during the presidency of Dr. Joyce Ladner, Howard presented Mandela with an honorary degree.
Since the exhibit’s opening, film screenings and panel discussions have been held, including an opening reception that featured South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool.
