PA HR365

Designates December 16, 2025, as "Charles Blockson Day" in Pennsylvania, honoring the historian's birthday (born December 16, 1933, in Norristown)

Charles L. Blockson amassed one of the world's largest private collections of African-American and African books, papers, photos, and artifacts, which he donated to Temple University in 1984

The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University now houses more than 700,000 items relating to the global Black experience, with materials dating from 1581 to present

Blockson cofounded the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia in 1976 and became the first African American to write a cover story for National Geographic in 1984

The resolution emphasizes the importance of preserving and collecting histories for future generations