“Museums and the African American Experience” with expert Dr. John Fleming at Berea College Feb. 25
2-16-2010
Dr. John Fleming, who has directed major museums interpreting the experience of black Americans, will speak at Berea College Thursday, Feb. 25. The 3 p.m. program in Phelps Stokes Auditorium is free and open to the public.
Fleming, a 1966 Berea College graduate who earned his PhD. from Howard University, was the founding director of the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Cincinnati and director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Wilberforce, Ohio. He is the executive producer for “America I Am: The African American Imprint,” a nationally touring museum exhibition celebrating nearly 500 years of African American contributions to the nation through artifacts, documents, multimedia, photos and music. The exhibition opened a year ago in Philadelphia and will travel to 10 metropolitan locations over four years.
Among the exhibition’s more than 250 artifacts from every period of history is a 19th century wood plane from the Appalachian Artifact Collection at Berea College. The plane belonged to John Henry Jackson, an early black student at Berea. Jackson used the tool to plane the floors of Fairchild Hall during its construction between 1871 and 1873. Fairchild was the first permanent building on Berea’s campus and the earliest brick building constructed in Madison County. John Jackson graduated from Berea in 1874 and later became the first president of Kentucky State University.
Dr. Fleming also is the author of three books which highlight the African American Experience: A Summer Remembered: A Memoir, The Case for Affirmative Action for Blacks in Higher Education, (co-authored with Gerald Gill and David Swinton), and The Lengthening Shadow of Slavery: Historical Justification for Affirmative Action for Blacks in Higher Education.
Fleming is a past president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and a former president of the Ohio Museums Association and the Association of African American Museums. He has received public service and lifetime achievement awards from Berea College, the Ohio Library Association, the Association of African American Museums and the Peace Corps. Fleming was elected a trustee of Berea College in 2007.
The event is part of Berea College’s Black History Month celebration and is co-sponsored by the Black Cultural Center and the Association of African American Students of Berea College. For more information, contact the Berea College Black Cultural Center at 859.985.3797.
Press contact:
Julie Sowell, News and Information Manager
