Museum of the Albemarle, Elizabeth City State University, and the Pasquotank County Library have been hard at work planning a number of educational events for Black History Month 2023.
Museum of the Albemarle
On Wednesday, Feb. 1 at noon, join documentarian Marvin Tupper Jones for the museum’s popular History for Lunch series. Mr. Jones topic, “Families of the United States Colored Troops,” will explore the role of families of North Carolina’s USCT in keeping the U.S. whole, expanding freedoms in America, and creating new opportunities for all people of color whether free or enslaved.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15 at noon, ECSU history professor Dr. Glen Bowman will give a presentation entitled “Progress & Growth: P.W. Moore High School, 1934–54.” Bowman will discuss “academics and athletics” at Elizabeth City’s P.W. Moore High School, northeastern North Carolina’s most outstanding public secondary school for Black students during segregation.
On Friday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., historian and author J. Brent Morris of Clemson University will share information and stories on maroons, their lives, and their struggles for liberation in the Great Dismal Swamp in a presentation entitled, “Dismal Freedom: History of the Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp.”
And from now through March 8, you can visit the museum and take in the temporary exhibit, “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” that showcases the diversity of this region of the state. The exhibit is sponsored by NC Humanities, Museum on Main Street program, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and the Friends of the Museum of the Albemarle.
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City State University students and faculty will hold Black History Month events on and off campus.
ECSU history students and professors will give a series of talks at Pasquotank County Library.
On Monday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m., join senior history major Zaina René for a presentation on midwifery, in a talk entitled, “If You Have Any Left, Keep It: A Womanist Analysis of Midwife Regulation in the United States South during the Early Twentieth Century.”
On Monday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m., senior history major Rachel Roundtree will present research on the Black Panther Party in a talk entitled, “Service to the People: The Black Panther Party and ‘Survival Programs,’ 1967-1982.”
On Monday, Feb. 20 at 5 p.m., Dr. Bowman will discuss the 1960 sit-ins in Elizabeth City in a talk entitled, “Behind Downtown Elizabeth City’s Newest Historical Marker: The February 1960 Sit-Ins at W.T. Grant.”
Observation of the 100th anniversary of ECSU’s Rosenwald Practice School continues with two Black History Month events. On Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m.. at the Pasquotank County Library, I will give a presentation entitled, “Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Elizabeth City State University’s Rosenwald Practice School.”
On Saturday, Feb. 18, documentary filmmakers Tom Lassiter and Jerry Snyder will host a film screening and talk about their film, “Unlocking the Doors of Opportunity: The Rosenwald Schools of North Carolina” on ECSU’s campus. This program is sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Council. The time and location of the screening will be announced on ECSU’s Black History Month calendar. You can also find additional Black History Month events taking place at ECSU on the calendar.
Dr. Melissa Stuckey is an assistant professor and program coordinator in the history program at Elizabeth City State University. She is also a Friends of the Museum of the Albemarle board member.
