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The
Collector's Collector: Mark E. Mitchell
By Lisa R. Foeman
The mere mention of historical artifacts ignites an inextinguishable flame of
passion in Mark E. Mitchell-historian, expert, dealer and appraiser of rare newspapers and
manuscripts, and President of the Mitchell Archives.
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Mark E. Mitchell |
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The Mark E. Mitchell Collection of African American
History, comprised of well over 1,000 individual pieces, includes priceless gems such as
handwritten letters penned by Frederick Douglass, an unpublished Paul Laurence Dunbar poem
(September), a censored note written by Martin Luther King, Jr. from an Alabama jail cell,
a vintage signed photograph of singer Marian Anderson, twenty issues of Douglass’
North Star newspaper, and letters written by Malcolm X.
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Mitchell also has an impressive business inventory of 20,000 individual newspapers. Said
Mitchell of the newspapers, “[They’re] like a timeline. [They’re] the
closest thing we get to a time machine. They give us the language of the day.”
Inspired by former Washington Redskins football player,
Terry Orr, Mitchell decided ten years ago to assemble his finds in a collection. Speaking
of his collection of African American artifacts, Mitchell stated, “I wanted to do it
visually and comprehensively. I wanted to bring at least four centuries of African
American history alive so it covers all the bases…. For me, it’s like trying to
put together the puzzle piece by piece.” Shared Mitchell, the “strength of [my]
collection” is that “the persons speak for themselves.” Case in point are
original letters from Malcolm X to Elijah Muhummad and Alex Haley which dramatically
reveal the philosophy-altering impact of his pilgrimage to Africa. “It’s what
Malcolm says about Malcolm in his own words” that makes these letters so significant,
observed Mitchell.
Mitchell is clearly ecstatic about and proud of his $70,000 acquisition last year of
Ocean, the 227-year old poem by Phillis Wheatley, the first published African American
writer. Gushed Mitchell, “I used to dream about finding a Phillis Wheatley poem.
I’m astonished.” As he should be. Much of Wheatley’s work was never
published and remains lost today. Ocean is the only Wheatley poem in private hands.
Mitchell also builds collections for interested individuals. Of Sacramento Kings forward
Chris Webber’s collection, Mitchell explained, “I took my own collection and
built a mini-collection [for Webber].” An especially unique item in Webber’s
collection is a postcard from Malcolm X. The postcard, which displays a chimpanzee on the
front, inspired Malcolm to comment that it is treated better than Black people in America.
Distinguishing this postcard from the typically benign ones, Mitchell remarked, “what
makes an artifact valuable is the content. The content is the key to valuation in
anything.”
Mitchell’s latest passion is the establishment of a museum dedicated to African
American history on The Mall in Washington. Acknowledging the past failures of others to
establish such a museum, Mitchell urged, “the time has come and I believe I can do
it.” Armed with the assistance of Frederick Douglass IV, former Redskin Art Monk,
congressmen, and Salomon Smith Barney, Mitchell pronounced, “This is huge. No one
will get in our way.” Let’s hope not!
M
February 2001 |
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