Andre' Vann
Andre D. Vann, archivist, author, griot, and educator is the Coordinator of the University Archives and Instructor of Public History at North Carolina Central University. He was born in 1970 by midwife in his family’s home in Henderson, North Carolina, and raised in the Mobile community, a community founded by his great- great grandmother, by parents Edward Cecil and Martha Hawkins Vann. Vann, graduated from Vance Senior High in 1988. Vann started his love and appreciation for African American history at the age of 10, by siting on front porches and listening to elders in his community and by working in his parent’s grocery store Vann’s Grocery and Fish Market-a center of commercial life and political activity for members of the Bakery, Tobacco and Confectionary Union in south Henderson.
After high school, he ventured to Durham, North Carolina to attend North Carolina Central University, where he was active in student affairs and joined the Gamma Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He received his Bachelor of Arts (1993) and Master of Arts (1995) degrees in American History from North Carolina Central University and was inducted into the Phi Alpha Theta Honorary Historians Society. He received advanced training in Public History at North Carolina State University. Upon, graduation at the age of twenty-five he taught African American history and North Carolina History in the history department of both North Carolina Central University and Shaw University (Raleigh, NC). He also served as assistant dean of students in the Division of Students Affairs prior to serving as Coordinator of University Archives in the Dr. James E. Shepard Memorial Library.
He received advanced training in public history and archival management at North Carolina State University and completed the University Managers Development Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Andre served as asst. dean of student at his alma mater before establishing the University Archives. He has dedicated over 20 years to the cause of higher education, historical preservation, archival preservation, volunteerism and service to humanity. He most memorable experience was at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he interned in the office of the late Retired Federal Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. (1994) and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts (1995).
His research interests include African American History, 20th Century United States History, Southern history, African Americans in Public History and Public Memory and civil rights. He is especially interested in understanding the complex connections between African American history, memory, funerary, race, "Black Wall Street", and social change in Durham, North Carolina through the twentieth and twenty-first century. He shares much of his research interests with students in a course entitled History 2890 Historical Methods and Applications in History which explores research topics in the humanities.
He has authored "Standing on the Promises: The Growth and Development of the Shiloh Baptist Church of Henderson, North Carolina, 1866-1996" (1996) and published works in the African American National Biography (2008), Encyclopedia of African American Associations and the Encyclopedia of African American Education. He authored African Americans of Durham County (2017), He co-authored a book entitled Sedalia and the Palmer Memorial Institute (2004); authored one book entitled Vance County, North Carolina (2000) and co-authored another entitled Images of America-Durham’s Hayti (1999) all are still in print.
He holds membership in the Historical Society of North Carolina, Charlotte Hawkins Brown Historical Foundation, Inc., Friends of the Stanford L. Warren Branch Library, Friends of the Durham County Public Library, Phi Alpha Theta Honorary Historians Society, Immediate past 2nd Vice of the First Congressional District, Durham County Democratic Party, Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Durham Branch of the NAACP (Unit 5387-B), Friends of Geer Cemetery, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
He has been a consultant to the United Durham Inc.-CDC History and Documentary Project (2020), North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development Historic Parrish Street Project (2006), North Carolina Central University Shepard House Project (2004), Lincoln Hospital Project for Durham County Hospital Corporation (1997) and the North Carolina African American High School Project (1992).
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the community, Vann has received numerous awards and recognitions, including (2017) Raleigh –News and Observer-Tar Heel of the Week (February 2017), (2016) “Beacon of Light Award” from the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Inc. and Youth Affiliate, (2013) First recipient of the Howard J. Clement, III Public Service Award-presented by the Beta Theta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Durham, North Carolina, (2006) Certificate of Appreciation by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Centennial Committee, (2002) “Award of Gratitude” from the Friends of the Stanford L. Warren Branch Library, (1996) “Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” Award, presented by the North Carolina Public Allies.
A leading researcher on the African American experience he has been profiled by the Durham Herald-Sun, News and Observer, Henderson Daily Dispatch, NCCU Campus Echo, North Carolina Historical Review, Regional Focus/Federal Reserve Board, Indy Week, Triangle Tribune, WUNC 91.5 FM, WNCU.90.7, WARR 1520 AM Radio Stations and many other publications.
Recently, he was appointed by the Mayor of Durham and the City Council and served as a member of the Durham Honors Commission that culminated in the recognition of honorees for the 150th Anniversary of Durham and was featured on the WUNC- “State of Things” on his work in researching and preserving African American history and his family’s history.
Andre Vann resides in Durham and among his interests are reading, educational policies, sports, collecting antiques, African American photography and writing.
Other publications by Mr. Vann include the following: Articles: “Elreta Ralston-Alexander,” “Daniel T. Blue,” “Carol L. Brice,” “Marjorie Lee Browne,” “Rose Butler Browne,” “Julius L. Chambers,” “Maria Hawkins Cole,” “Natalie Cole,” “Henry E. Frye,” and “William J. Kennedy, Sr.,” listed in The African American National Biography, 2008.; “The Links Incorporated,” “National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association,” and “Progressive National Baptist Convention,” listed in Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African-American Associations, 2001.; “The Will and the Way, Julia Warren, Business Woman,” in Historic Preservation, Volume 22, Spring/Summer 1997.; “William J. Trent, Jr.” and “William J. Trent, Sr.” listed in Encyclopedia of African American Education, 1996.; “Black Women United: A Look at Black Club Women in Durham, North Carolina, 1917-1953,” in The Trading Path-Durham-Orange Genealogical Society, Volume 6, No. 2, Spring 1995.