Guide to the Johanna Fernández papers, 1967–2022

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2023

Collection Overview

Title:	Johanna Fernández papers
Date range:	1967–2022
Creator:	Fernández, Johanna
Extent:	40.25 linear feet (28 record center cartons, 9 3-size oversize boxes, 2 file boxes, and 1 half-file box)
Abstract:	This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Johanna Fernández, Dominican-American Brown University alumna, scholar of 20th Century US history and the history of social movements at Baruch College, City University of New York, author of the award-winning, The Young Lords: A Radical History (2020), and a social justice organizer, including as a notable student organizer for need blind admissions while as an undergraduate at Brown. Materials include photos, correspondence, syllabi, course readings, lecture notes, writing drafts and research, books, flyers, newspapers, and electronic records, dating from 1967 – 2022.
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2022.008

Scope & content

This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Johanna Fernández, Dominican-American Brown University alumna, scholar of 20th Century US history and the history of social movements at Baruch College, City University of New York, author of the award-winning, The Young Lords: A Radical History (2020), and a social justice organizer, including as a notable student organizer for need blind admissions while as an undergraduate at Brown. Materials include photos, correspondence, syllabi, course readings, lecture notes, writing drafts and research, books, flyers, newspapers, and electronic records, dating from 1967 – 2022.

Series 1, PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, 1988 – 2021, includes funeral programs, notebooks, and photos, related to Fernández's personal life and education at Brown and Columbia Universities, respectively. Of particular note are drafts of Fernández's PhD dissertation, Radicals in the Late 1960s: A History of the Young Lords Party in New York City, 1969-1974, which served as the foundation for Fernández's 2020 The Young Lords: A Radical History. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 2, ADMINISTRATIVE AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT, 2002 – 2019, includes conference materials, professional correspondence, fellowship applications and correspondence, and meeting materials. Note exhibition materials related to "¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York" directed and co-curated by Fernández across three New York Museums in 2015. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 3, BRING MUMIA HOME, 1982 – 2021, relates to the movement to release American political activist, journalist, and prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal. The organization's website states, "The movement for Mumia Abu-Jamal is an international network that has taken to the streets for over thirty years to stop two state-sponsored executions, organized to overturn his death sentence, and recently sponsored a landmark court case that forced the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to administer treatment for his Hepatitis C." Materials from this series include correspondence, press conference and teach-in materials, and legal files related to Abu-Jamal as well as members of the Africa family who comprise MOVE, a family-based, Black liberation movement dedicated to ending police brutality, professing the values of raw foods, animal rights, and sustainable urban agriculture. Also included are correspondence, transcripts, and notes for the documentary Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, written and produced by Fernández in 2010 after she interviewed nearly every person involved in the film. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by date.

See also the Free Mumia Movement collection (Ms.2023.004) and the Mumia Abu-Jamal papers (Ms.2022.009) at Brown University.

Series 4, CORRESPONDENCE, 1987 – 2022, includes personal and professional correspondence. Of particular note is correspondence with Philip Africa and prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Robert "Sugar Bear" Lark. This series is arranged chronologically then alphabetically by sender.

Series 5, TEACHING MATERIALS, 2002 – 2020, includes syllabi, lecture notes, readings, assignment prompts, and course evaluations for various courses taught by Fernández. Courses include "America's Half Century," "From Civil Rights to Black Power," "Historical Perspectives on 9/11," and "Women and Social Protests." This series is arranged alphabetically by course title.

Series 6, WRITINGS BY FERNÁNDEZ, 1971 – 2020, is arranged into 3 sub-series.

Series 6, sub-series 1, No Easy Victories: An Anthology of Black Radicalism from 1968 to the Present, 1998 – 2001, includes bibliographies, printouts, and readings for this anthology researched by Fernández and edited by Leith Mullings and Manning Marable in 2000. This sub-series is arranged chronologically by section.

Series 6, sub-series 2, The Young Lords: A Radical History, 1971 – 2020, includes correspondence, typed chapter drafts, handwritten notes, notebooks, readings, and research materials related to various chapters and topics. All research materials relate to the Young Lords Organization generally, and more specifically their work around education, health, and sanitation. Of particular note are transcripts of oral history interviews with former members of the Young Lords Organization. Note that there may be overlap between the research materials here and the subject files in Series 8, sub-series 2. The files in this series were directly linked to Fernández's work on the book. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 6, sub-series 3, Other writings by Fernández, 2002 – 2018, includes correspondence, typed drafts, typed and handwritten outlines, and research materials related to essays and talks by Fernández. Titles include "Between Social Service Reform and Revolutionary Politics: The Young Lords, Late Sixties Radicalism, and Community Organizing in New York City," "The Young Lords and the Postwar City: Notes on the Geographical and Structural Reconfigurations of Contemporary Urban Life," "The Handschu Files," and "Third World Transition Program at Brown University." This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by writing format then by title.

Series 7, WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 1996 – 2021, includes correspondence, printouts, photocopies, and typed drafts of writings by other scholars and friends. Authors include Mumia Abu-Jamal, Carla Guerrón-Montero, Joe Kaye, and Rhonda Y. Williams. This series is arranged alphabetically by author's last name then by title of work.

Series 8, SUBJECT FILES, 2002 – 2017, is arranged into 2 sub-series.

Series 8, sub-series 1, Subject Files by Name, 2005 – 2009, include readings, handwritten notes, and photocopied archival materials related to specific people. Subjects include Paul Guzman, George Lipsitz, Sonia Sotomayor, and Andy Warhol. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by subject's last name.

Series 8, sub-series 2, Subject Files by Topic, 2002 – 2017, include readings, handwritten notes, clippings, and photocopied archival materials related to various topics. Topics include "9/11," "Civil rights/ Pittsburgh," MOVE, and the Young Lords. Note that there may be overlap between the subject files here and the research materials in Series 6, sub-series 2. The files in this series were not directly linked to The Young Lords: A Radical History and may have been used for courses and other work. This sub-series is arranged alphabetically by topic.

Series 9, PRINT MATERIALS, 1967 – 2019, includes books, flyers, journals, magazines, newspapers, posters, and reports. Titles include Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? by Mumia Abu-Jamal, "MOVE Activist Archive," "Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization," The Black Panther, Journal de l'Abolition, and "Annual Violations Report: Violations Against Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Detention." This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by title.

Series 10, ELECTRONIC RECORDS ON REMOVABLE CARRIERS, 1994 – 2015, includes 3.5" floppy discs, cassette tapes, CDs, and zip disks. Content includes interviews with members of the Young Lords organization, interviews with Mumia Abu-Jamal, and early versions of Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, as well as music, resume drafts, and graduate coursework. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by information on the media carrier. To submit a digitization request, complete this form.

Series 11, RESTRICTED, 1989 – 2018, contains diaries, financial files, health files, and handwritten notes. This series is closed until Fernández's death after which date this series will open without restriction.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Abu-Jamal, Mumia

Subject Organizations

• MOVE (Organization)
• Young Lords (Organization)
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
• Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive.

Subject Topics

• Brown University--Alumni and alumnae
• Capital punishment.
• Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century
• Civil rights movements--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.
• Community activists – New York
• Death row inmates
• New York (N.Y.). Police Department.
• Political activists.
• Prison-industrial complex
• Puerto Ricans--Civil rights
• Puerto Ricans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions.
• Puerto Ricans--New York (State)--New York--Social conditions.
• Puerto Ricans--Politics and government.
• Young Lords (Organization),--History.

Geographical Names

• New York--Social conditions

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 11 series.

Biographical/Historical Note

Johanna Fernández was born on December 2, 1970, in The Bronx, New York. Her parents, Tirso Apolinar Fernández Sr. and Minerva Estevez, immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the late 1960s. She is one of four children.

Fernández began high school at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers, but transferred to the Manhattan Center for Science and Math in her junior year. There, she was admitted to the Double Discovery Program at Columbia, a college preparation program for poor and working class communities of color in urban centers. She completed her senior year of high school and completed her A-levels in Godalming, England, through a program organized by the British American Educational Foundation.

After deferring her admission for one year, Fernández entered Brown University in 1989 where she earned her undergraduate degree in Literature and American Civilization in 1993. During her time there, she became a key organizer of the student group SAMA – Students for Admissions and Minority Aid, which led the April 1992 student occupation of University Hall in hopes of pressuring Brown to move more rapidly towards need-blind admissions. During the takeover, 253 students, including Fernández, were arrested and charged with felonies for not vacating University Hall. Need-blind admissions would not be established at Brown until 2003 and was not fully practiced until 2007.

Fernández continued her education at Columbia University where she received her PhD in history in 2004. Her dissertation, Radicals in the Late 1960s: A History of the Young Lords Party in New York City, 1969-1974, focuses on the history of the Young Lords Party – the Puerto Rican counterpart to the Black Panther Party – through their major campaigns and political world view. While earning her PhD, Fernández taught at the Brooklyn Institute of Technology (1998-1999), Columbia University (1999), and Trinity College (2002-2005). After graduating, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University (2005-2007) and is currently Associate Professor of history at Baruch College in the City University of New York, where she teaches 20th Century US history and the history of social movements.

It was during Fernández's time at Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, PA, when she met a professor and civil rights activist named David P. Demarest, and Martha Conley, the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Bariki Hall, and Mumia Abu-Jamal's music teacher. Both urged Fernández to become more intimately involved in Abu-Jamal's case as she had already participated in part of the world movement that stopped his ececution in the 1990s. All three were members of the Pennsylvania Prison Society and visited men on death row often.

Fernández sent her first letter to Mumia in 2006 and visited him in person for the first time during this same period. Over time, the two developed a bond that led to Fernández becoming one of Abu-Jamal's lead advocates, successfully working to get him off of death row and continuing to work on his release from prison. She became involved in the Free Mumia Movement and currently heads one if its key organizations, the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. In 2010, she wrote and produced the documentary Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. In 2014, the two co-edited a special issue of the journal Socialism and Democracy, titled "The Roots of Mass Incarceration in the US: Locking Up Black Dissidents and Punishing the Poor." And in 2015, Fernández edited Writing on the Wall: Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal by Abu-Jamal. She also routinely includes recordings and live calls with Abu-Jamal in her courses.

While heading advocacy work for and with Abu-Jamal, Fernández continued her research on the Young Lords. In 2014, she sued the New York Police Department (NYPD) for its failure to honor her research-driven, Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. Her suit led to the recovery of the "lost" Handschu files, the largest repository of police surveillance documents in the country. The collection includes over one million surveillance files of New York political organizations compiled by the NYPD between 1954-1972, including those of the Black Panthers, the Nation of Islam, and the Young Lords, as well as public demonstrations and civil unrest. After Fernández identified that the correct files were recovered, she spent months writing a grant for the Mellon Foundation to have the files digitized out of concern that they would not be properly cared for. The grant was awarded for a half million dollars but the municipal archive housing the documents declined to accept.

Using the Handschu files, as well as original oral histories and archival collections, Fernández published The Young Lords: A Radical History in 2020. This definitive account of the Young Lords chronicles their roots as a Chicago street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization in New York. It has earned the American Book Award and the New York City Book Award, as well as the three top awards of the Organization of American Historians, including the prestigious Frederick Jackson Turner award for best first book in history.

Fernández's overall work has also earned several awards including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship of the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library (2007) and the Fulbright Scholars grant to the Middle East and North Africa (2011), which took her to Jordan. In 2015, she directed and co-curated "¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York," an exhibition in three New York City museums cited by The New York Times as one of the year's "Top 10, Best In Art." Her mainstream writings have been published internationally, from Al Jazeera to the Huffington Post. She has appeared in a diverse range of print, radio, online and televised media including NPR, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Democracy Now!.

To learn more about Fernández, listen to oral history interviews she contributed to the Pembroke Center Oral History Project.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except for SERIES 11, RESTRICTED, which is closed until the creator's death, after which date the materials will open without restriction. Researchers may request permission to access the diaries prior to Fernández's death by emailing pembroke_archives@brown.edu. Advance notice is required to view any audiovisual media or born-digital records that may exist in this collection. Audiovisual media and born-digital records in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical audiovisual or born-digital media is restricted.The collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Johanna Fernández papers, Ms.2022.009, Pembroke Center Archives, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Contributed by Johanna Fernández beginning in 2022.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Amanda Knox, on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-12-06.
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Curatorial work and processing provided by the Archives at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, Brown University Library.

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Materials Listen to oral history interviews with Fernández part of the Pembroke Center Oral History Project. For more information on Mumia Abu-Jamal and the efforts to release him from Prison, see the Mumia Abu-Jamal papers (Ms.2022.009) and the Free Mumia Movement collection (Ms.2023.004), at Brown University. For more information on the connection between Fernández and Abu-Jamal, read Acquiring the Johanna Fernández '93 and Mumia Abu-Jamal papers.

Inventory

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