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U.S. NEWS Monday 17 February 2020
$1 million grant

goes to record black

women's histories

NEW YORK (AP) — A trail- stories of black pioneers in
blazer among black wom- a number of fields including
en in the business world Hank Aaron, Maya Ange-
wants to help make sure lou and Colin Powell.
that the stories of other pio- But even as an organiza-
neering women like her are tion founded and led by
not forgotten. a black woman, Richard-
The HistoryMakers, an oral son said there are still more
archive that's recorded men's stories in the archives
the stories of more than than women's — about 800 In this Oct. 6, 2015 file photo, Ursula Burns speaks at the Eighth
Annual John Wooden Global Leadership Award Dinner in Bev-
3,300 African Americans, more. erly Hills, Calif.
launched The WomanMak- "When you look at differ- Associated Press
ers initiative with a $1 million ent periods of time, even
gift from Ursula Burns, the the modern-day civil rights ries at the same time." we're having today about
former head of Xerox. movement, often the story Telling their stories and things we should no lon-
"We have to value our of women's roles is not well- showcasing their achieve- ger be talking about, the
own stories," Burns said in a recorded or told," she said. ments is important, espe- value and the worth of a
phone interview about the Women, Richardson said, cially in these fraught parti- human being that people
project that will focus on were often the ones keep- san times, Burns said. think they can derive from
African American women. ing the archives, but, "we "These endemic, unbeliev- the color of their skin," she
"We have to teach our- aren't keeping their histo- ably prejudicial discussions said.q
selves to actually value our-
selves in our society."
Burns, 61, was chair and
CEO of Xerox from 2009 to
2016. She spent her entire
career at the company,
working her way up from
an internship in 1980 and,
upon becoming CEO, was
the first black women to
head a Fortune 500 com-
pany. Burns left Xerox after
the company was split in
two.
The initiative was kicked off
at a Jan. 31 luncheon in
New York City, where Burns
presented Julieanna Rich-
ardson, who founded The
HistoryMakers in 1999, with
the monetary gift in honor
of her late husband, Lloyd
Bean.
"We have so much poten-
tial to leave a historical re-
cord that will not have any
chance to being erased,
that is what is exceedingly
important to me," Richard-
son said about the initia-
tive.
The launch included a
number of women on the
advisory committee for The
WomenMakers initiative,
who will help determine the
180 women whose stories
will be recorded thanks to
Burns' gift.
Those on the committee are
high-profile figures includ-
ing Anna Deavere Smith,
Bethann Hardison, and Ani-
ta Hill.In the 20 years since
its official launch, The Histo-
ryMakers has recorded the