The Film: Interview Transcripts: John Ford

John Ford, historian and school programs director, Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, on proving Vasco da Gama wrong

I collect African history because I’m a lover of the truth, and when I collect history, especially primary source documents, it leads me to the truth. 

I remember reading a document that Vasco da Gama had written as he reported back to Portugal on his excursion around Africa.  He said this, he said, “I have captured the coast.  As a consequence of capturing the coast, I have secured their land.  Without their land, they will have no history, and without their history, they will have no future.”  We need to prove Vasco da Gama wrong. 

Martin Delaney and
Charles Avery

Pittsburgh’s black population

communication within the
African-American community

dialogue between the races

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