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Now there is a place to come and appreciate more than 60 years of chronicling of the artistic world, study cultural history from around the globe, and view the photographs and works of poetic legends and other noted wordsmiths. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville held the grand opening Monday, Oct. 19 of its Eugene B. Redmond Collection and Learning Center. 

“To have a home for all the many sundry and varied things that I have come across and often held onto for more than 60 years is too wonderful for me to grasp,” said Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, SIUE English Language and Literature emeritus professor. “I came from a family where all the siblings did not finish high school. I became an English professor who specializes in African American multicultural thought and expression, and then to have it further culminated in the naming of a Learning Center after me is almost in the words of James Baldwin ‘unspeakable.’” The collection covers from the impact of Emmett Till and Rosa Parks in 1955 until the present.

The University’s Library and Information Services (LIS) acquired the sizable and impressive collection from Redmond, co-founder of the Eugene B. Redmond Writer’s Club, founding editor of Drumvoices Revue, East St. Louis Poet Laureate and affectionately known as “EBR.” Redmond’s collection has a unique historical record of African American and multicultural arts movements and integrates research in the fields of art, folklore, literature, poetry, history, dance, music, drama, photography, diversity and culture. 

The Collection and Learning Center contains three rooms, said Regina McBride, PhD and LIS dean, to a crowd of more than 200 people. The reading room displays many of Redmond’s collections and artifacts and those pieces will be rotated on a regular basis. A workroom houses special collections that will be digitized in coming months. The teaching room is equipped with 24 computers, a smart board and a state-of-the-art podium.

McBride also acknowledged special guests including SIUE Interim Chancellor Stephen Hansen, SIU Board of Trustee Member Shirley Portwood and East St. Louis Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks. McBride thanked Hansen and his wife, Julia Hansen, emerita associate professor; and Howard Rambsy, PhD, English Language and Literature associate professor, for being key in developing the Learning Center.  

“We are here to celebrate the art and genius of Eugene B. Redmond,” Hansen said. “As Maya Angelou wrote about him: ‘Eugene B. Redmond is the preacher of poetic rhythm, syntax and content- remarkable achievement unto itself.’”

“In a larger sense, the Center is a testament to the larger community,” Hansen continued. “It reflects our values, diversity, plurality and freedom. It makes us proud to be human beings. It calls to the better angels of our nature.”

Dr. Maya Angelou, the late legendary American author, poet, dancer, actress and personal friend of Redmond, also wrote: “He has also amassed a one-of-a-kind collection that deserves to be placed under one roof and made available to scholars, teachers, the general public and especially children. Therefore, I am pleased to support the creation of the Eugene B. Redmond Learning Center in the Elijah P. Lovejoy Library at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.”

The night was peppered with poetry readings from Redmond and members and friends of the EBR Writer’s Club. Many read a kwansaba, which is a poetic devise devised by the Writer’s Club and is a seven-line poem with seven words on each line, and no one word more than seven letters. Others giving poetic offerings included Darlene Roy, EBR Writers Club president and Writers Club co-founder; Sherman L. Fowler, Writers Club co-founder; Charlois Lumpkin, Roscoe Crenshaw and Jaye P. Willis, all Writers Club members; and Charles Blackwell, friend of the Writers Club.

The idea of the Center germinated with Rambsy.

“When I first visited professor’s home in 2003. I was walking up the steps to the second floor, I froze when I saw the photo of Sonia Sanchez and Toni Morrison touching heads,” Rambsy said.

“I said we have to do an exhibit of your collection and work.” Rambsy first learned about Redmond's research and writing on African American poetry in 1997 and came to the University for the sole purpose of being able to work with Redmond.

Rambsy and Redmond worked together to form the Eugene B. Redmond Collection and held its first public exhibit in February 2004.

Redmond is also an award-winning author/editor of several dozen books, journals and anthologies. As Literary Executor of the estate of Henry Dumas (1934-1968), and in collaboration with writers such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison, he has edited several volumes of Dumas’ works.

The SIUE Library and Information Services (LIS) consistently strives for new and inventive ways to deliver information to students, faculty and the community. LIS is home to Lovejoy Library, the heart of the University. The library provides SIUE faculty and students the information required for their academic pursuits that result in improving our communities. LIS faculty and staff   nurture SIUE students’ scholarship with resources that support the collaboration and innovative thinking needed to succeed in the global marketplace.