Sekuru’s Stories has been made possible with the generous support of the American Council of Learned Societies and the University of Rochester’s Digital Scholarship Lab.
At the Digital Scholarship Lab, the following people contributed significantly to Sekuru’s Stories: Director Emily Sherwood, Former Director Nora Dimmock, Digital Humanities Librarian Joe Easterly, GIS Research Specialist Blair Tinker, and Digitization Specialists Lisa Wright and Clara Auclair.
Several other departments and individuals at the University of Rochester have also offered valuable support. In the Colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, Assistant Dean Debra Haring was instrumental in making this project possible. At Rush Rhees Library, Head of Metadata Strategies Maggie Dull fielded a number of questions. In Information Discovery, Interface Designer Sean Morris contributed to overall site design. Thanks also to Librarian Stephanie Barrett in the department of Outreach, Learning, and Research Services.
Many of the photographs used in this site belong to the Chicago Dzviti Photograph Collection, held in the University of Rochester’s Department of Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation (RBPSC). This collection was acquired from Chicago Dzviti’s widow Lorraine Chitungo, with generous support from Dean Gloria Culver in AS&E. Assistant Dean Jessica Lacher-Feldman and Special Collections Librarian/Archivist Miranda Mims made substantial contributions to acquiring, processing, and digitizing many of these photographs. Thanks also to Richard Selman for his instrumental role in this process.
A number of other individuals have granted permission for the use of photographs, audio recordings, and other materials to be used on this site. These include: Lucy Duran, Senior Lecturer in African Music at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies; Tessa Watt, formerly Senior Producer with BBC Radio and Music; Tony Perman, Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at Grinnell College; Erica Azim, director of the non-profit organization Mbira; Joel Laviolette; Tom Melkonian; Debby Chen; Gerry Szymanski; and Duncan Allard.
Many people offered valuable feedback on early versions of this site. With funding from the University of Rochester’s Humanities Center, Sekuru’s Stories was initially workshopped with the participation of Tute Chigamba, Tony Perman, Darien Lamen, and Stefan Fiol, and students in the Eastman School of Music’s Mbira Ensemble in 2014. Thank also to Marilyn Kolodziejczyk, Ted Wright, and to the many workshop participants at “Building Sekuru’s Stories,” a Central New York Humanities Corridor event organized by Assistant Professors Darren Mueller of the Eastman School of Music, and Sarah Fuchs-Sampson of Syracuse University in 2018.