University Times

Laurence Glasco

Alumnus Ralph Proctor, a faculty member at Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) and a collector of African art, has donated eight African artifacts to the African Heritage Classroom Committee. Proctor, who is CCAC’s chief diversity officer, also said he will make an annual donation of African art in honor of Pitt history faculty member Laurence Glasco, at left. This year, that donation is a Benin bronze casting of a head of a queen mother.

*

The other pieces donated by Proctor on Feb. 6 are:

• A Bundu mask of the Sande secret society of the Mende People, Sierra Leone. Society members guided girls in their transition to womanhood.

• A Makonde helmet mask, made of wood and human hair, from Tanzania.

• A wooden spirit mate statue, representing the soul of a royal spirit mate who dwells in the parallel spirit world.

• A ceremonial mask from the Dan people, Ivory Coast.

• A Royal Kente cloth from the Ashanti People, Ghana.

• A priest’s shawls.

• A priest’s divination board, from the Yoruba People, Nigeria.

Proctor earned his BS in psychology and his PhD in history at Pitt. He was assistant dean in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, 1968-73.