Part of our Critical Conversations Series, featuring Polly Sheppard and Margaret Seidler. Moderated by Bernard Powers and Marjory Wentworth.
About this event
“Two Women Bridge the Racial Divide in a Civil Rights Journey” will be a fireside chat featuring Polly Sheppard, survivor of the Mother Emanuel AME shooting, and Margaret Seidler, a descendant of three generations of Charleston slave traders. Event will be held both live at the Rita Liddy Hollings Science Center Auditorium (58 Coming St, Charleston, SC 29401) and streamed online.
Event is open to the public in-person (mask wearing is required) and online.
Description
As part of the College of Charleston’s Provost’s Critical Conversations, each student in the First Year Experience seminar FYE 114 (including the 1967 Legacy Scholars) will share their research on an African American trailblazer, event, or organization that has made an impact at the College of Charleston and the world-at-large.
Featured topics: Avery Normal Institute and the 1944 letter writing campaign to desegregate the College of Charleston, early black integrators, tributes to Linda Dingle Gadson (Class of 1971), Remus Harper (Class of 1972), Otto German (Class of 1973), Francis Sturcken, the history of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. House on the CofC campus, Dennis Muhammad (Class of 1992), Shannon Matthews Chandler (Class of 1995)
The College of Charleston’s Department of Political Science invites you to our annual convocation. Our guest speaker, Congressman James E. Clyburn, will be here to discuss the importance of voting rights.
This event is hosted by the College of Charleston, the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and the International African American Museum and the Anson Street African Burial Ground project team.
Students, friends and colleagues will have an opportunity to share their memories of these two passionate community activists and join a conversation about the ways that we can continue to honor them both, now as Ancestors.
The Charleston Area Branch of ASALH will celebrate Founders Day by welcoming Dr. Tonya Matthews, who is the new Chief Executive Officer of the International African American Museum (IAAM). The Museum is located at the historical site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, South Carolina and is scheduled to open in 2022. IAAM has been described as “one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as America continues the walk toward ‘a more perfect union’”
A thought leader in inclusive frameworks, social entrepreneurship and education Dr. Matthews will share her thoughts on the historical importance of ASALH, the Black family and her vision for IAAM at this moment of racial reckoning.
We will also welcome the inaugural class of the College of Charleston’s 1967 Legacy Program. The program is comprised of a group of high achieving Black students pursuing excellence in the tradition of Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
Agenda
Welcome
Lift Every Voice and Sing
President’s Comments
Introduction of Featured Speaker
Featured Speaker Remarks: Dr. Tonya M. Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, International African American Museum, Charleston SC
Special Guest Presentation: College of Charleston 1967 Legacy Program
Announcements
Closing Remarks
About Guests
Dr. Tonya M. Matthews
Dr. Tonya M. Matthews is Chief Executive Officer of the International African American Museum (IAAM) at the historically sacred site of Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. As a champion of authentic, empathetic storytelling of American history, IAAM is one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as America continues the walk toward “a more perfect union.”
A thought-leader in inclusive frameworks, social entrepreneurship, and education, Matthews has written articles and book chapters across these varied subjects. She is founder of The STEMinista Project, a movement to engage girls in their future with STEM careers. Matthews is also a poet and is included in 100 Best African-American Poems (2010) edited by Nikki Giovanni. Matthews received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her B.S.E. in engineering from Duke University, alongside a certificate in African/African-American Studies.
The Legacy 1967 Program aims to improve the recruitment, retention, graduation and workplace success of Black students through scholarships, enhanced and extended education support, and professional preparation, as well as research the experiences of the Black trailblazers who contributed to the College.
Register
Register below to obtain the Zoom meeting information.
Mark your calendars and spread the word. Dr. Hilary Green, Associate Professor of History at the University of Alabama, will be delivering the inaugural Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston (CSSC) Scholarly Lecture next Thursday, March 25th at 6:00 pm EST via Zoom. Her talk is titled “Untangling Campus Histories of Slavery.”
Join us for an insightful conversation between two indigo-making artists about the ancestral craft of indigo-dying and its connection to the Lowcountry. Arianne King Comer is Artist-in-Residence at the Gibbs Museum and will be joined in conversation by fellow artist and master dyer, Ifé Franklin. Erica Veal, Project Archivist and Interpretation Specialist at Avery Research Center, will moderate the conversation.
The virtual event will take place on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 11am EST. You will not need to register to attend the event; we will stream the event on the Avery Research Center’s Youtube page (https://tinyurl.com/IndigoSistahs).
More often than not the celebration of black strength, tenacity, and innovation is limited to the month of February. This lack of continuous acknowledgement of the culture that defines Charleston can be extremely detrimental, especially for native children. We Celebrate Year Round is an interactive, thought provoking, and inspiring virtual black history program created to spark meaningful conversation, engage students grades K-12, while reiterating the importance of black influence on the world as we know it. Produced by Eye of Elohim Videography We Celebrate Year Round carefully configures local artisans, creatives, historians, and storytellers alike to seamlessly express the importance of not only our local history, but how we continuously enhance the world as we know it. With special guest Minerva King, Amethyst Ganaway, Geechee Experience, CofC Gospel Choir, Chef Wibi, and Avery Staff viewers will be able to not only celebrate during the anniversary, but obtain knowledge to continue the conversations year round. We Celebrate Year Round will be available to view on February 26, 2021 at 12:00 pm on all Avery streaming platforms.
Join the archival staff at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture for a discussion on the role of archivists and archives in preserving family histories
When: Saturday, February 13, 2021 via Zoom
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Sponsored by the Charleston Area Branch of ASALH and the Charleston Freedom School
Event is free and open to the public
Register
Please use the form below to register for the event or click the link here
Charleston Area Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History 