East St. Louis Action Research Project
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Providing Emergency Assistance to the Dunham Centers

Ms. Katherine Dunham, a world-renowned African American choreographer and dancer, came to East St. Louis in the late 1960s to provide arts and humanities training to children. In recent years, the Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities have experienced financial difficulties, culminating in December, 1995, when electricity and gas service were terminated for non-payment of bills at the museum, school, offices and residence. Shortly thereafter, ESLARP formed an Emergency Assistance Committee to lend technical support to the Dunham Centers.

Nearly $25,000 in commitments was secured through ESLARP's efforts, an emergency solicitation letter was sent to nearly 1,200 "Friends of the Dunham Centers" and a stabilization plan was created. Students carried out long-overdue interior and exterior maintenance projects at the Dunham Dynamic Museum in early 1996 and worked with the Dunham Centers and the Olivette Park Neighborhood Association to host a community open house at the long-shuttered museum. On campus, ESLARP worked with the Department of Dance and the College of Fine and Applied Arts to organize a dinner in Ms. Dunham's honor, as part of an African American Dance Conference. A presentation by Professor Reardon and remarks by Ms. Dunham helped raise the awareness of the plight of the Dunham Centers within the arts community. The University of Illinois contributed $8,000 to boost the fundraising efforts of the Centers.

Document author(s) : Angie Morgan
HTML by :Nandita Godbole
Last modified: September 30, 1996

East St. Louis Action Research Project