Academic cap worn by Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole at Bennett College
date: label: Date
content: 2003
name: label: Designed by
content: Barbara Nicholson, American
label: Worn by
content: Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, American, born 1936
label: Subject of
content: Bennett College, American, founded 1873
notes: label: Description
content: A blue and gold mortarboard cap from Bennett College worn by Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole. The cap has a stiff square top that is covered in a bright blue synthetic fabric. A wide strip of blue, black, and gold striped woven tape is attached diagonally across the top. An excerpt from the poem "Still I Rise" (1978) by Maya Angelou reading "Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear / I rise / Maya Angelou" is printed in gold beneath the woven band. The cap is trimmed with black, gold, and blue woven tape in a scrollwork pattern, with the tape wrapping around the top and the bottom edges of the mortarboard. A circular opening at the center of the bottom side of the mortarboard is surrounded by a panel of the blue synthetic fabric and the same woven tape used to trim the mortarboard, with elastic inside it to secure the mortarboard to the head. Inside the opening is handwritten text in gold puff paint reading "October 11th / 2003". Two gold tassels are looped around a blue button at the center of the top of the mortarboard and then through a thread loop on the edge of the mortarboard.
place: label: Place used
content: Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Education
label: Topic
content: Fashion design
label: Topic
content: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Fashion and Historical
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Johnnetta Betsch Cole
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.209.6
objectType: label: Type
content: mortarboards
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: synthetic fiber, cardboard, elastic, and tassels
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 11 1/2 × 13 × 13 in. (29.2 × 33 × 33 cm)