DAG is excited to announce an opportunity for you to join our letter-writing campaign to honor DCDC Founder Jeraldyne Blunden on a U.S. postage stamp. Below is a sample of the letter in support of the Jeraldyne Blunden US Postage Stamp. You may use as is, or you may personalize by adding your own thoughts, embellishments, and/or life-changing events, to the body of the letter. Click the link below to download and sign your copy of the letter. 

Mail your signed copy to us at:

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company

840 Germantown St.

Dayton, OH 45402

We invite you to share this appeal with your friends and family, requesting they download then mail, as well. We want to flood the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee with thousands of letters of recommendation.

Thank You

An argument for the creation of a U.S. postage stamp honoring Jeraldyne Blunden

Overview

Jeraldyne Blunden (1940–1999) was the founder and artistic director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

"Man has created boundaries for race, religion, and culture. If we can get past that, we can realize that there is much more in life which connects us."
— JERALDYNE BLUNDEN

Jeraldyne Blunden left a permanent mark on the field of contemporary dance by founding the oldest modern dance company in Ohio and inspiring generations of choreographers, teachers and dancers. Her company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, has grown to be one of the largest companies of its kind in the nation, and proudly holds the largest repository of modern dance works,
both classic and contemporary, by African-American  choreographers in the world. The company she created continues to reach over 10,000 audiences annually in national, and international touring, and online platforms, and serves over 25,000 students, k-12 and beyond, through its educational programming.

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  ● Born Jeraldyne Kilborn in Dayton, Ohio on December 10, 1940.
  ● In 1948, a number of African American mothers, Jeraldyne’s mother included, approached
  the Schwarz School of Dance, about providing opportunities for their children to enroll in the
  school. The Schwarz School of Dance did not admit black children due to possible ramifications to the school. The Schwarz’s broke with convention and brought their school to
  African American students through the Linden Center, in the African American community.
  Jeraldyne Blunden began her dance training there at the age of eight.
  ● Jeraldyne also attended the American Dance Festival in Connecticut, where she studied with
  Martha Graham, José Limón, George Balanchine, and James Truitte.
  ● She performed with the Dayton Ballet, Antioch Summer Theatre, and the Connecticut
  College Dance Theatre Workshop.
  ● The Schwarz sisters, recognizing Jeraldyne’s extraordinary gifts, made her, at age nineteen,
  director of dance classes at the Linden Center. Under her leadership, the student population
  soon outgrew the Linden Center's capacity.
  ● In 1963, Blunden, breaking with the Schwarz’s, chartered her own dance school: Jeraldyne's
  School of Dance.
  ● In 1968 she founded the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a performance outlet for students at the school.
  • ○ Blunden shaped DCDC as a repertory dance company. She envisioned an institution
    that would be a place where great dance could happen, where young African
    American children could grow into accomplished artists.
    ○ Blunden brought in master teachers to work with her dancers: ballet, Flamenco, tap,
    mime, Tango, hip hop, folk, and swing classes were offered.
    ○ Blunden made sure her students were able to gain a broad range of experiences,
    including summer opportunities and scholarships to attend schools such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the American Dance
    Festival.
    ○ She continually sought renowned guest artists to create pieces for her dancers.
    DCDC's outstanding repertoire includes works by major choreographers such as
    Alvin Ailey, Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Jawole Willa Jo Zolar, Rennie Harris,
    and Doug Varone.
    ○ She encouraged and commissioned young choreographers, including Ulysses Dove,
    Bebe Miller, Warren Spears, Donald Byrd, and Ronald K. Brown, now all nationally
    known choreographers.
    ○ She built one of the largest collections of classic African American modern dance
    that includes the seminal works of Donald McKayle, Eleo Pomare, Talley Beatty,
    Asadata Dafora, and Dianne McIntyre.
    ○ Blunden built a competitive dance company that is welcomed not only at home, but in
    New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Canada, Chile,
    Poland, Bermuda, France, Russia, Germany, China, and South Korea.
    ○ The company performs on many of the pre-eminent dance stages around the world:
    NYC’s Lincoln Center, the Joyce Theatre, DC’s Kennedy Center, The Bolshoi in
    Moscow, Massachusetts’ Jacob’s Pillow and American Dance Festival in North
    Carolina.
    ○ 2001 The company was prominently featured in the PBS Great Performances
    documentary, Free to Dance, produced by the American Dance Festival.
    ○ 1997 The company was the first dance company selected for the Ford Foundation’s
    Working Capital Fund for Minority Cultural Institutions, a program designed to
    strengthen leading, mid-size, cultural organizations at a critical juncture in their
    development.
    ○ 1988 On the strength of DCDC’s prior reconstructions the company was one of four
    dance companies chosen by the American Dance Festival to participate in ADF’s
    Black Tradition in American Modern Dance project, which involved the reconstruction
    of classic dance works by African-American choreographers.
    
• Five decades after its founding, the 10th largest modern contemporary dance company in the nation remains rooted in the African American experience and committed to the development of diverse movement artists on the global stage. Jeraldyne Blunden was one of the five founding members of the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the largest African American arts service organization in the country. Throughout her life, Blunden received numerous awards and commendations.
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• ● The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship Award in 1994
  ● The Katherine Dunham Achievement Award (1998)
  ● The Dance Magazine Award (1998)
  ● The National Black Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award (1998)
  ● Dance Women Living Legend Honors (1997)
  ● The Regional Dance America Northeast Award (1991)
  ● The Dance/USA 2000 Honors Award (posthumously)
  ● Honorary doctorates from the University of Dayton and Wright State University
  
  Jeraldyne Blunden died on November 22, 1999, at age 58. Her life and work have had a long lasting impact on the community that she served and loved. Although beset with the challenges of establishing an African American dance company at a time still reeling from the effects of discrimination, political assassinations, civil rights struggles, and massive destruction and neglect of traditional African-American communities, Blunden doggedly persisted in launching a school and company that would serve and showcase these communities and become the pride of the state of Ohio and the nation.
  Jennifer Dunning from the New York Times described Blunden's legacy as a beloved leader in the dance world, stating, "That no-nonsense approach to life was mixed with steely determination, a great personal warmth and humor and an unsentimental humanity that made her a much-loved figure on the national dance scene."
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• It is for these reasons that we request Jeraldyne Blunden be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.