Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Scope and Contents
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical / Historical

  • Language of Material: English
    Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives
    Title: Elbert "Big Man" Howard papers
    Creator: Howard, Elbert, 1938-2018
    source: Hyams, Carole
    Identifier/Call Number: M2680
    Physical Description: 11 Linear Feet (12 manuscript storage boxes, 1 half manuscript storage box, 2 record storage boxes and 4 flat boxes, 1 map folder)
    Physical Description: 29.4 gigabyte(s) Contents of 3 thumb drives.
    Date (inclusive): 1938-2018
    Abstract: Elbert "Big Man" Howard was a civil rights activits, journalist, and author. He was one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.

    Scope and Contents

    Elbert "Big Man" Howard papers consists of newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, pamphlets and flyers, articles written by Elbert Howard, article drafts, awards, CDs, DVDs and other materials. The majority of the photographs are from the 2000s.
    The materials document the Black Panther Party, Elbert Howard, friends and family, music, Sonoma County activist organizations, Elbert Howard events and appearances, and other topics. There are also draft portions of Panther on the prowl, a self-published book by Elbert Howard.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual & born-digital materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

    Conditions Governing Use

    While Special Collections is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

    Preferred Citation

    [identification of item], Elbert "Big Man" Howard papers (M2680). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, California.

    Biographical / Historical

    Elbert "Big Man" Howard was born on January 5, 1938 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1954 Howard joined the Air Force and was a firefighter on a crash-rescue team at an airbase near Verdun, France. After leaving the Air Force in 1960 Howard became a student at Merritt College in Oakland, California. In 1966 he was one of the six founding members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, along with Reggie Forte, Sherman Forte, Bobby Hutton, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. At the time he was a student at Merritt College in Oakland. He served as the editor of the Black Panther newspaper, the Deputy Minister of Information and the central strategist for community programs. He also wrote articles for the Black Panther Party newspaper under the moniker 'Brother Dynamite'. He traveled around the United States helping to establish BPP chapters and to Europe and Japan as a spokesperson for the BPP. In 1974 Howard left the BPP and worked in retail in Virginia and Tennessee. He also worked with several organizations in Memphis focused on improving education and health care. Howard moved to Sonoma County and in 2007 married Carole Hyams, who had worked at the Berkeley Free Clinic as a volunteer from 1969-1970 and was also a community worker for the BPP. Hyams first met Big Man in early 1969. Howard was involved with a number of community organizations focused on police brutality, peace, and social justice, including Police Accountability Clinic & Helpline of Sonoma County. He also co-founded KWTF a community radio station, was a radio dj promoting jazz and blues, and was a journalist. Elbert "Big Man" Howard died July 23, 2018 in Santa Rosa, California.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Black power -- United States.
    Police brutality.
    United States -- Race relations
    African Americans
    Civil rights -- United States.
    Jazz
    Rhythm and blues music
    African American political activists
    Political activists--United States
    Political prisoners
    Black militant organizations--United States
    Police-community relations--United States
    Hyams, Carole
    Cleaver, Eldridge.