History
In 1972, the Archie and Phebe Mae Givens Foundation was established to provide scholarships in support of the academic success of African American students in the Twin Cities. In 1985, the focus of the Givens Foundation’s mission shifted to African American literature when the Foundation partnered with 10 community families and the University of Minnesota to purchase a 3,000 piece-collection of African American Literature from a New York collector. As a growing and unique collection of more than 18,000 African American literary works and cultural objects representing more than 230 years of African American literature and life, the Archie Givens, Sr. Collection of African American Literature continues to inspire the mission and programs of the Givens Foundation.
Today, the Givens Foundation for African American Literature is a 501(c)(3) public charity with a mission to enrich cultural awareness and learning through programs that promote and celebrate black literature and writers. Givens Foundation programs engage nearly 4,000 students, educators, readers and writers in the Twin Cities each year. In the last five years, our literary arts education program, Spirited Minds and Strong Souls Singing, has become an innovative solution that has supported the academic engagement of more than 6,000 Twin Cities students by delivering black literary artists and storytellers into classrooms to use African American literature as a springboard for teaching reading and writing. Our NOMMO African American Authors Series has explored the state of the art of African American literature with literary masters such as Amiri Baraka, Angela Davis, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ishmael Reed, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozake Shange, and John Edgar Wideman. Our Givens Black Writers Collaborative Retreat pairs national and state mentoring authors with emerging black writers to promote the “writing life” and to seed the future of African American literature. Lastly, our Givens Black Books Community Reading Campaign has increased access to quality literature in the African American community and has featured diverse activities and events that encourage reading as an integral part of daily life for more than 800 participants.