Establishing Black Institutions and Leadership–1776 to the Early 20th Century

Public workshop: “Establishing Black Institutions and Leadership–1776 to the Early 20th Century”

The above-named workshop on Petersburg’s rich African-American history will be held this Saturday, November 10, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

at First Baptist Church [map] in Petersburg.

The featured speaker will be Professor Melvin Ely of the College of William & Mary, the Bancroft Award-winning author of Israel on the Appomattox and Adventures of Amos ‘n Andy. The workshop is free and open to the public.

This workshop is the second of four public workshops that constitute the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded project entitled “African-American History in the Context of the Atlantic World–Case Study Petersburg.” The project is sponsored by the Department of History and the Institute for the Study of Race Relations at Virginia State University, in association with Petersburg 2007. It is also sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, with special designation as an NEH “We the People Project.”

In addition to Professor Ely, presentations will be made by professors Christina Proenza-Cole, Arthur Abraham, and Paul Alkebulan of the History Department at Virginia State University.
A tour of the church, which houses the oldest black Baptist congregation in the nation, will be available after the workshop.