Honoring the visionary leadership of Clarence R. Todd and Harambee 360º Experimental Theatre, Inc.
By Gaila Sims
Vice President Programs & Interpretation for Fredericksburg Area Museum
On Saturday, November 2nd, the Fredericksburg Area Museum will host the Black Arts Festival, a descendant of the Harambee 360º Arts Festival founded by Mr. Clarence Todd here in Fredericksburg in the 1970s.
Clarence Reese Todd was born in Columbus, Georgia, on October 14, 1914, and grew up primarily in Philadelphia before attending Temple University. He served as first lieutenant in the corps of engineers during World War II and met Gladys Poles in 1942 at a USO dance. The two eloped before he deployed overseas, and when he returned from his service, the Todds made their home in Fredericksburg.
Mrs. Todd was an incredibly important community advocate in her own right, creating a playground for African American children in City Park (now Hurkamp), teaching the youth class at the Baptist Training Union, coordinating night study programs, and creating the Youth Canteen for Black teenagers, an essential outlet for social activities and learning experiences. She was a committed member of the NAACP and was referred to as a “political machine” in her obituary. In 1960, alongside Dr. Phillip Wyatt, Mrs. Mamie Scott, and other community leaders, Mrs. Todd spearheaded the sit-in movement here in Fredericksburg.
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Mrs. Todd shared her experiences of the sit-in movement in Ruth Coder Fitzgerald’s essential A Different Story: A Black History of Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania, Virginia, originally published in 1979. She wrote:
I recall one evening my husband, Clarence Todd, came home early from work and joined my daughter and me to sit in for a short while. While he was sitting in, a white man who was very unkempt, sat beside him and placed an order. While the man was being served, he conversed freely with the waitress and made many derogatory remarks…My husband became infuriated. It was very hard for him to restrain himself and to keep his “cool.” Knowing him as I did, I would well appreciate all that he suppressed. I well understood, too, why he never sat with us again. I am sure he stayed home to help our cause, for I knew he was with and for us all the way. There were others who felt the same as he, but they knew ours was a passive movement.
I love this quote because it shows the strength and love of this couple and their commitment to activism. Mrs. Todd organized sit-ins, among many other programs and initiatives, while Mr. Todd recognized his own strengths and understood that passively absorbing racist name-calling was not the most effective use of his time and abilities.
Instead, he focused on his career and, simultaneously, contributed to his community in a myriad of other ways. He started his own business as a house painter, and then became a planner and estimator at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, before becoming the supervisor of planners and estimators. In his later career, Mr. Todd became an Equal Employment Officer for the Navy and investigated discriminatory employment cases at naval bases throughout the region. He retired in 1976 as a maintenance engineer and Equal Employment Opportunities Committee investigator.
At the same time as he worked for the military, Mr. Todd became an essential community leader here in Fredericksburg. Among many civic accomplishments, he served as a Scout leader, American Legion Commander, President of the Walker-Grant Band Boosters and was heavily involved in the Parent-Teacher Association and on the Bi-Centennial Commission. On June 11, 1963, Mr. Clarence Todd was appointed the first African American member of the Fredericksburg School Board, serving two terms. Of his many achievements, this is one of the most special, in my opinion, because of the current superintendent of Fredericksburg City Schools. His inclusion on the school board was the first step toward the appointment of Dr. Marci Catlett as the 25th Division Superintendent of Fredericksburg City Public Schools in 2019.
While Mrs. Todd’s legacies as a community leader have been more widely recognized, as their daughter, Ms. Gaye Todd Adegbalola, says, “Many people don’t know what my dad did. My dad was the most creative person I ever met. He spearheaded every fundraiser, would write and direct skits, and then would MC any shows he created with singing, dancing and comedy. He would imitate every preacher and local character in town. He designed and hand lettered posters, decorated for all the proms and the homecoming floats. And he was even the announcer at the football games. If anything creative needed to be done in the black community, he was the person who was called.”
In the late 1960s, Clarence Todd founded an experimental theater organization for area youth. Originally known as Shades of Soul, Harambee 360º officially became a chartered, non-profit corporation in November 1973. The name Harambee comes from a Swahili word, which means, “Let us pull together,” while the “360º” referenced an unbroken circle, together signifying unity.
According to the program, Mr. Todd “saw the need for our youth to have a channel for their creative talents and the need for something other than the existing recreation programs offered by the community.”
The organization’s motto was “If you don’t know, learn; if you know, teach.”
Harambee 360º provided students from elementary school through college the opportunity to write and produce their own scripts. Dance and Vocal Music workshops were offered by Mary Washington College students, and Mr. Todd himself led the drama workshop. Drumming classes were taught by Marines from Quantico, and parents were heavily involved in the organization as well. In 1976, Harambee was commissioned to produce a historical play by the Fredericksburg Bi-Centennial Commission and received $2,000 for the production, one of their most significant projects. This was the only time the organization received grant money, as according to Ms. Gaye, the rest of the money to support the operations were raised by the organization, students, and community members.
One of Harambee 360’s most lasting contributions is the Black Arts Festival. According to Ms. Gaye, part of the reasoning for the Black Arts Festival was that, due to segregation, Black artists weren’t displayed in the local galleries, so “we had to give them a place where they could be seen. It was such an important thing to the artists.” Starting in 1975, the festivals were held off and on for the next several decades, and we have programs from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The latest program I’ve been able to access is from 2010, when Ms. Gaye Adegbalola served as Mistress of Ceremonies. The festival originally took place at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds, then moved to the Fredericksburg Armory, and eventually found a place at historic Walker-Grant on Gunnery Road and holds incredibly long-lasting and fond memories for so many local community members.
In 2022, Sarah Ernst, then the FAM’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, began working on a special exhibition entitled Seen: Viewing the Work of African American Artists of Fredericksburg. Inspired in large part by Mr. Clarence Todd and Harambee 360º, the exhibition opened on March 1, 2023, and featured historical and contemporary African American artists with Fredericksburg area connections, including the beloved Mr. Johnny P. Johnson, Stafford native Palmer Hayden, amazingly talented quilt artist Janette Holland, sculptor Ayokunle Odeleye, multi-talented artist Alex Harvell, and local arts educator Rondall James, among others. As part of the programming in support of the exhibition, Sarah came up with the idea to revisit the Black Arts Festival and hold it behind the FAM in Market Square as a way to honor and support local artists. She worked with several members of the original Harambee 360º, including Xavier Richardson and Gaye Adegbalola, in presenting the program.
Last year’s Black Arts Festival was held on June 10, 2023. We had over a thousand people wander through and featured appearances by local musicians, nonprofits, and visual artists. One of the best parts was that every single artist featured at the event sold at least one piece, and many sold several, while raising their profiles and connecting with one another and their community.
This year, the Fredericksburg Area Museum’s Black Arts Festival has teamed up with the Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation Department, and the planning committee includes Juno Pitchford, Mr. Todd’s grandson. Sponsored by Germanna Community College, the festival will feature visual artist booths in Market Square with appearances by local performers and nonprofits, with a full afternoon of music at Riverfront Park. We are so excited to honor Mr. Todd and his extraordinary vision for African American arts, culture, and history right here in the heart of downtown Fredericksburg. We hope our community joins us to celebrate this incredible man and the legacies of his foundational arts leadership.
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