The following is a list of Black History Month events sponsored and/or hosted by local organizations:
GRU will use the national theme for Black History Month which is “The Golden Jubilee: Celebrating 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement.” Various local events, non-GRU as well as GRU, include the following:
– The downtown public library at 823 Telfair St. will host the “Witness to the Holocaust Traveling Exhibit” Jan. 24 through Feb. 7. It features photos by WWII vet William Alexander Scott III, son of the founder of the first black-owned daily paper in Atlanta, the Atlanta Daily World. Scott III was also a photographer in a segregated battalion of the U.S. Army during the war. His photo essay “draws parallels between the Jim Crow Laws and the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935-1945 implemented in Germany and Nazi-controlled areas of Europe.”
– The Maxwell Branch Library at 1927 Lumpkin Rd. will host a talk on Jan. 30 Mon., 6-7 p.m. Dr. Angela Bratton of GRU will talk about “Africa: Diverse Ways of Defining Family and Marriage.”
– Feb. 1 Sat. – Laney Craft Laney Museum Heritage Gala will be held at the Marriott downtown, 6-10 p.m. There will be dinner, live music and a silent auction. Keynote speaker will be Zena Howard, who is experienced with working with libraries, museum and cultural facilities, public and private institutions, etc. Tickets $75/person. Contact the museum at 706-724-3576 for information and ticket purchases. Deadline for ticket purchases is Jan. 21.
– Feb. 5 Wed., 12:30-1:30 p.m. – Brown Bag History Talk at Augusta Museum of History at 560 Reynolds St.: “Slavery and Its Impact: 1840-1870” by Dr. Bobby Donaldson. Description: Dr. Donaldson is Associate Professor of History of the University of South Carolina. Brown Bag will provide beverages beginning 11:30 a.m., patrons bring their own lunch. Free to AMH members, $3 for non-members. Reservations are not required.
– Feb. 5 Wed., 6:00 p.m. – The Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History will co-host the program “Before the Movement and After the Act: Black Augusta Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – A Community Forum” at the Laney Museum at 1116 Phillips St. The event is co-hosted with The Department of History/Anthropology & Philosophy, Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences of Georgia Regents University. Host will be Dr. Perzavia T. Praylow of GRU. Panelists will include Dr. Charles E. Goodman of Tabernacle Baptist Church and members of the community. For additional information, please contact Dr. Praylow via e-mail at ppraylow@gru.edu.
– Feb. 16 Sun. – GRU Black Student Union Gospel Extravaganza, 3-6 p.m., Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre.
– Feb. 17 Mon. – Buffalo Soldiers Day at Summerville campus. See and hear re-enactors and find out information on those brave historic soldiers. More details TBA.
– Feb. 19 Wed. – Laney Museum Historian Awards Program, 5 p.m., at the museum at 1116 Phillips St.
– Feb. 22 Sat., 11 a.m. at the downtown public library at 823 Telfair St., room B, 1st floor. The library will feature a Black History Month program on Lucy Laney. Speaker Dr. Kent Anderson Leslie will talk about her almost completed biography on Miss Laney and will note “little known facts about Miss Laney’s life and legacy.”
– Feb. 24 Mon., 4-5 p.m. The GRU Department of English and Foreign Languages and FLAIR will host a panel titled “Images and Memories of Africa” at GRU Summerville campus in Allgood Hall, room E-251. It will be presented in English by Dr. Liana Babayan, GRU Assistant Professor of French, and Dr. Eronini Egbujor, Paine College Associate Professor of French/GRU Adjunct Instructor of French. For more information, contact Jana Sandarg at jsandarg@gru.edu.
– Feb. 27 Thurs. – GRU Reese Library will present a Black History Month program featuring Lucy Craft Laney. Speaker will be Dr. Kent Anderson Leslie. Time will be 2:00 p.m., location University Hall, Room 157.
– Mar. 8 Sat. – Paine College Cemetery Tours at Cedar Grove, 120 Watkins St. Walk through the historic cemetery and see and hear costumed speakers talk about the many famous heroes, sheroes and other remarkable inhabitants. Hours TBA.
– Mar. 22 Sat. – Laney Museum Black History Quiz Bowl. Hours TBA