Sometime in July, I think, I received an e-mail from a former Auburn colleague, Nancy Gibbs. Nancy is currently in the library at Duke University, and she told me that one of her colleagues was coming over to South Africa for IFLA, and she hoped I didn’t mind that she’d given the colleague my contact information. “Not at all,” I replied. “I’m happy to help fellow Americans navigate their way through South Africa.”
The colleague’s name is Karen Jean Hunt, and she and I had a few e-mail exchanges, during which we discovered that each of us is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She was also happy to learn that I am familiar with ugali (what they call sadza in Zimbabwe, and what they call pap or mealie pap here in SA).
I also suggested to Karen Jean that in addition to the usual tourist stuff in Jo’burg, she should try to visit the Rosa Parks Library in Soweto (one of the US Consulates libraries, formerly called the American Library). I offered to phone my friend Selaelo Ramoleta to set up a tour. I told Selaelo that KJ is the director of the John Hope Franklin Collection at Duke, and Selaelo informed me that John Hope Franklin himself had been to visit the former American Library not so many years ago!
(John Hope Franklin is an historian who was instrumental in weaving the history of African-Americans into U.S. history. He is well-known for his book From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, which was first published in 1947. The collection at Duke includes his personal and professional papers.)
Because she was arriving late in the afternoon on a Friday, I volunteered to pick KJ up at the airport and drive her straight to the Rosa Parks Library. This was the first time we’d met in person, and we hit it off right away. We spent a fair amount of time together over the next few weeks (she was in Jo’burg for several days, then went to Cape Town and attended the IFLA pre-conference for which I had done local arrangements, then went on to Durban for IFLA, came back to Jo’burg, went to Victoria Falls, and back to Jo’burg before flying home – how did she get so much vacation time?!?), and as I write this, I feel sure that I’ve made a lifelong friend. I do find it kind of amusing that a middle class white kid from Tennessee and an inner city black kid from Detroit have so much in common!
The colleague’s name is Karen Jean Hunt, and she and I had a few e-mail exchanges, during which we discovered that each of us is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. She was also happy to learn that I am familiar with ugali (what they call sadza in Zimbabwe, and what they call pap or mealie pap here in SA).
I also suggested to Karen Jean that in addition to the usual tourist stuff in Jo’burg, she should try to visit the Rosa Parks Library in Soweto (one of the US Consulates libraries, formerly called the American Library). I offered to phone my friend Selaelo Ramoleta to set up a tour. I told Selaelo that KJ is the director of the John Hope Franklin Collection at Duke, and Selaelo informed me that John Hope Franklin himself had been to visit the former American Library not so many years ago!
(John Hope Franklin is an historian who was instrumental in weaving the history of African-Americans into U.S. history. He is well-known for his book From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, which was first published in 1947. The collection at Duke includes his personal and professional papers.)
Because she was arriving late in the afternoon on a Friday, I volunteered to pick KJ up at the airport and drive her straight to the Rosa Parks Library. This was the first time we’d met in person, and we hit it off right away. We spent a fair amount of time together over the next few weeks (she was in Jo’burg for several days, then went to Cape Town and attended the IFLA pre-conference for which I had done local arrangements, then went on to Durban for IFLA, came back to Jo’burg, went to Victoria Falls, and back to Jo’burg before flying home – how did she get so much vacation time?!?), and as I write this, I feel sure that I’ve made a lifelong friend. I do find it kind of amusing that a middle class white kid from Tennessee and an inner city black kid from Detroit have so much in common!
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