Clark Thesis

Church, Religion

This is a thesis about the white protestant churches of Champaign-Urbana which was a survey of integration and segregation. This includes an introduction, tables, many chapter with background information, conclusions,and bibliographies.

Douglas Alan Clark

1957

THE MINISTERIAL COUNSELING ROLE:
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF URBAN AND
RURAL PROTESTANT CLERGYMEN

Sociology, Religion

This article analyzes African American history by researching the differences between white and African American ministers in Champaign Urbana.

Gerald Benjamin Gersey

The American Journal of Sociology

Unpublished thesis

1959

The Social Integration Experiences of African American Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution

Black Experience on Campus

Dissertation based on data collected at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Victor C. Mullins

unpublished dissertation, New York University

2005

Black Male Perspectives of Counseling on a Predominantly White University Campus

Black Experience on Campus, Discimination, Counseling

Wendell W. Bonner

Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 27, No. 3 pp. 395-408

January 1997

Recapturing a Sense of Neighbourhood Since Lost: Nostalgia and the Formation of First String, a Community Team Inc.

Baseball, Negro Leagues

This qualitative study is an exploratory case analysis of First String, a Community
Team Inc., a unique grassroots association founded by a small group of African Americans in Champaign,
Illinois. The founders established the neighbourhood baseball league to foster a greater sense
of community in neighbourhood youth. In an effort to address the lack of research on the formation
of grassroots associations, the purpose of the study was to understand how and why First String was
formed, and what this experience contributes to leisure studies and theory. The findings revealed the
significance of nostalgia as a driving force behind the effort.

Troy D. Glover and Nameka R. Bates

Leisure Studies

2006

"We Hope for Nothing, We Demand Everything": Black Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Black Experience on Campus, Black Power

Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 230 pp.

In the late 1960s, Black students at predominantly White and historically Black campuses across the nation reevaluated the education they received in institutions of higher education and demanded an education more "relevant" to their situation as Blacks in America. This dissertation is an attempt to understand the influence of such notions on one such predominantly White institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). It presents an historical reconstruction of the Black UIUC student movement's origin, development, and decline. Preconditions such as alienation and isolation on campus provided Black students with the foundation on which their frustrations with UIUC built. Off-campus events and on-campus experiences precipitated the formation of a Black student union as a way to allay their alienation and to act as a mediating body between themselves and the institution. The organization filled social and psychological needs for Black students and provided a forum in which they could plot a course for change. A catalytic event bolstered the Black student movement and transformed their efforts into an open and large-scale protest which, in turn, elicited responses and control efforts from the UIUC administration. Though short-lived, the Black UIUC student movement was able to leave a tangible and intangible legacy on campus.

As a case study of Black Power's influence on the UIUC campus, this dissertation contributes to the discussion regarding the influence Black students had on helping to shape the nature of education at predominantly White institutions. In particular, it allows for an understanding of how unique factors influenced the rise in and character of Black student discontent at a large, land-grant, residential, Midwestern institution. Though unique for several reasons, the discussions and demands that came out of the Black student movement at UIUC were not unlike the discussions and demands at other predominantly White institutions across the nation. This dissertation is an attempt to contribute to the dialogue on the rise, ideology, development, and outcome of Black student movements across the nation in an effort to determine the full impact of Black student efforts and Black Power on American higher education.

Joy Ann Williamson

1998

Filled with the spirit: The musical life of an Apostolic Pentecostal church in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

Religion, Music

This study explores the musical life of Alpha and Omega, an Apostolic Pentecostal church located in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. A member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Alpha and Omega was founded in 1979, and its youthful constituency, which numbered about 300 at the time of this study, was predominantly African-American. During fieldwork conducted between 1989 and 1992, the researcher witnessed the congregation's move from its storefront location to a spacious, traditional sanctuary across town. The social and musical change occasioned by the move became an important focus of this study.

This ethnography seeks (1) to provide a holistic description of one church, with an emphasis upon its music and worship; (2) to study the relationship between music and Pentecostal belief, ritual, and language in that church; (3) to examine the effect which the church's move had upon the musical and ritual life of the congregation; and (4) to reflexively explore the relationship between the researcher and the institution studied.

The church's musical repertoire can be grouped into two principal strata. The choir selections and instrumental shout music of the more contemporary musical stratum are used by the church to cultivate its youthful image. The older, more traditional music includes congregational songs and hymns. This study examines melodic similarities in the congregational song repertoire and suggests the possibility of several tune families.

Pentecostal doctrine, ritual, and language are examined, both singly and in relation to the church's music. Speech and song both attest to the specialized and formulaic character of Pentecostal language, and a reservoir of favorite song texts clearly facilitates verbal performance among congregants. Song texts further provide a fundamental means of communicating the tenets of church doctrine. Pentecostals often advocate the need to be "flexible" and ready to follow the Holy Ghost's direction, and various forms of musical and ritual flexibility at Alpha and Omega help to validate the congregation's belief that individuals and worship services can be "Spirit-filled."

1997

Keeping a face on policy: A reflective case study on collaborative education relationships

Education, Policy

This research was a qualitative case study designed (a) to examine the relationship between two higher education organizations and an Urban League affiliate that came together in response to a National Urban League, Inc. resolution to improve the educational performance of African-American students in two public school districts; (b) to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaboration using the stakeholders perspectives; and (c) to assess the views of social service, public school, university, and community college officials on the potential of this type of collaboration to help improve the academic performance of African-American students in the public schools. Moreover, this study may help us understand what roles each organization should play for effective collaboration and develop guidelines to help education and advocacy organizations such as Urban League affiliates establish collaborative or partnership relationships to address the need of low income and minority students in local public school districts.

The outcome of the research revealed that collaborative education policy plays a significant role in supporting academic and social development of youth. However, appropriate policy must be developed in a manner that acknowledges the implications of race and power on organizational cultural conflict in the policy development process. Particularly, as it relates to collaborative education policy designed to serve underachieving minority students, particularly, African-Americans.

William M. Patterson

2000

Housing '70 in Champaign County

Housing, Urban Renewal

Describes the condition of housing, especially low-income housing, in Champaign County, including descriptions of local agencies (including the Community Advocacy Depot) charged with helping low-income individuals achieve adequate housing.

League of Women Voters

1971

The Frances Nelson Health Center's School Aid Project: an Effective Approach to Problems of Black Exclusion from Public School

Health, Education

Describes the University of Illinois' involvement in a health education project at the Frances Nelson Health Center, with recommendations about how to make the program more effective.

Barbara Rhodes

Urbana, IL: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning,

1975