NOTE: We present this archived program held originally in 2005 in its entirety, since we believe it has importance to Five College Learning in Retirement in its efforts to contribute to the history and ongoing struggle for civil rights in America.
THE FIVE COLLEGE LEARNING IN RETIREMENT 2005 MEMORIAL SERIES
SLAVERY AND ITS LEGACY
A Series of Symposia
Focusing on Black Slavery and Its Consequences for Our Times
Organized and led by
Five College Learning in Retirement
In collaboration with
The Urban League of Springfield
The African-American and African Studies Program at Mount Holyoke College
The Springfield Museums.
Made possible with generous support from
Five Colleges, Inc.
Amherst College
Hampshire College
Smith College School for Social Work
Smith College Office of Institutional Diversity
UMass/Amherst Afro-American Studies
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (through Amherst College)
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
and the Eugene A. Dexter Charitable Fund
Florence Savings Bank
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
FEBRUARY 16 TO APRIL 7. 2005
Black slavery began in the Western Hemisphere in the 1500’s. The first slaves were introduced at Jamestown in 1619. By the time slavery ended (in 1888 in Brazil) as many as 13 million Africans had been taken from their homes and brought across the Atlantic.
Most Americans are unaware of the importance of this forced labor to this country’s growth, economic success and world influence. Most Northerners are unaware of the extent of slavery in the North or the significant involvement of our federal government. Much of this history has been forgotten, minimized or denied.
Slavery may have ended in 1865 in the U.S., but Jim Crow (which some say was “invented in the North”) soon replaced it as a way of racial control. It was another five score years before African Americans achieved legal equality. What is the modern legacy of this history? This series of symposia is designed to focus attention on the sources of current social problems and through dialogue to make some contribution to their eventual alleviation.
SLAVERY & ITS LEGACY
KEYNOTE
Wednesday, February 16 at 4:00 PM, Amherst College, Converse Hall
Introductions by Charles Gillies and State Representative Ben Swan
MAKING RACE AND NATION
Anthony W. Marx, President, Amherst College and author of Making Race and Nation
AND
CHALLENGES ON THE ROAD TO RACIAL JUSTICE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Lucas Wilson, Prof. of Economics, Chair, African American and African Studies, Mt. Holyoke College.
HISTORY
Saturday, February 26 at 10:00 am, Hampshire College, Franklin Patterson Hall
SLAVERY ABOVE THE MASON-DIXON LINE:
The North: Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley
Three Learning in Retirement members, Chuck Gillies, Frank Heston and Bob Romer
share their learning in retirement and other research.
Wednesday March 9 at 7:00 pm, Smith College, Wright Hall
SLAVERY AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
John Bracey and Manisha Sinha,UMass Afro-American Studies
and Hilary Moss, Black Studies, Amherst College.
LEGACY
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 7 pm, Museum of Fine Arts at the Quadrangle, Springfield
CHALLENGES OF BLACK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Discrimination and Access Issues
Moderator Henry Thomas III, CEO, Springfield Urban League
Joyce Everett, Smith College School for Social Work
Glenn Davis, Springfield Urban League
Dean Robinson, Political Science, UMass Amherst
Wednesday. March 30 at 7:00 pm, Museum of Fine Arts at the Quadrangle, Springfield
THE RESIDUE OF SLAVERY AND JIM CROW IN THE BLACK FAMILY:
The Bad and the Good
Moderator: Henry Thomas III, CEO, Springfield Urban League
Mary Hall, Smith College School for Social Work
Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, St. John’s Congregational Church
Peter Brandon, Sociology, UMass.
Thursday. April 7 at 7:00 pm, Mount Holyoke College, Gamble Auditorium
SLAVERY’S LEGACY:
The Permanence of Racism in American Life
Derrick Bell, NYU Law School
Educator, lawyer, and author, most recently of
Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and
Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform.