Edmund Barry Gaither is known for his

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

-related activities. He was born in 1944 in

Great Falls Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, a small town in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, United States. His interest and passion for art began at an early age, but because he grew up in a small town, he had no way to visit museums. After high school, Edmund Gaither attended

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

in Georgia, only male historically black college in the United States. College was an extremely important time for Gaither, because it allowed him access to the artwork he had such a passion for, a population where he fit in, and an atmosphere to find himself. Gaither graduated Morehouse with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and went on to further his education at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. He graduated from Brown with a Masters in Fine Arts in 1968. In 1969, Gaither became a curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He went on to found the

National Center of Afro-American Artists The National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) is a center in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts founded in 1968 by Elma Lewis to "preserv and foster the cultural arts heritage of black peoples worldwide through arts teaching, and the presentat ...

, located in Roxbury,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The Center has become a vitally important showcase of African-American artists and culture for Boston and the United States. A love for education led Gaither to develop a course on African-American art at which he served as a lecturer at various colleges across the nation. Some of these institutions included Spelman College (1968-1969), Massachusetts College of Art (1970-1971), Harvard College (1972-1975), and

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

(1971-1974). Gaither also taught a course in African American studies at Boston University. He is a respected individual in the museum field and has served many positions, some including Commission on Museums for a New Century, Commission on Equity and Excellence, and Museums and Communities, American Alliance of Museums. Outside the museum world, he served on President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

’s Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Gaither was the first president of the African American Museums Association.

References

* Massachusetts Cultural Council. (2006). Commonwealth Awards. Retrieved 22 February 2007 from http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/conference/bios_97.html . * Morehouse College. (2007). Retrieved 20 February 2007 from http://www.morehouse.edu. * NCAA. (2004). Edmund Barry Gaither. Retrieved 22 February 2007 from http://www.ncaaa.org/gaitherprofile.html . * The History Makers. (2006). Edmund Barry Gaither Biography. Retrieved 22 February 2007 from http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=82&category=ArtMakers&name=Edmund%20Barry+Gaither . Living people 1944 births Brown University alumni Museologists American art curators Wellesley College faculty Spelman College faculty Harvard University staff Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty Boston University faculty {{US-music-bio-stub