Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center Celebrates Black History Month and 1 Year of Operation

DOD-DEOMI Special Observance Art for Black History Month.

The National Theme for Black History month this year is African Americans and the Civil War.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH
February, Black History Month at the Scottsboro Boys Museum & Cultural Center, ‏ 428 W. Willow St., Historic Joyce Chapel, Scottsboro, Alabama.

Saturday, Feb. 5 - Open 10AM-4PM. Special video presentations at 11AM and 2PM on the Scottsboro Boys Case

Saturday, Feb. 12 - Open 10AM-4PM. Special video presentation at 11AM Scottsboro Boys Case; 2PM presentation on African Americans in the Civil War by Garry L. Morgan, U.S. Army Retired, Historian Scottsboro Boys Museum.

Saturday, Feb. 19 - Open 10AM-4PM. Special video presentation at 11AM on the Scottsboro Boys Case. Special presentation by Ms. Sheryl Snodgrass-Caffey at 3PM "THE IMPACT OF THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS' CASES ON CIVIL RIGHTS - - YESTERDAY & TODAY" & "A Bit of Local Civil Rights History"

Saturday, Feb. 26 - Open 10AM-4PM. Special video presentations at 11AM and 2PM on the Scottsboro Boys Case

Black History month program, click for an expanded view of the program.

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Scottsboro's Daily Sentinel Link to the story. Video's attached to the D.S. story. http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_f9b8b444-2e53-11e0-95f6-001cc4c03286.html

WAAY TV story: http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/story/Black-History-Month-Celebration-In-Scottsboro/OgctwSYtiEmob5QH-G5w4w.cspx

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Ms. Sheila Washington, Founder and Director of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center

The Scottsboro Boys under guard at Scottsboro, Alabama March 26, 1931.

Tuesday, February the 1st the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center in Scottsboro, Alabama began our celebration of Black History Month and 1 year of operation.

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Ms. Marilyn Jones Stamps was our featured speaker. Ms Stamps says, "I have a love for history." Ms. Stamps works with the Department of Tourism in Montgomery. She delivered a moving presentation.

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"We do not have to live in the past...Our heritage is defined by our forfathers." Ms. Stamps related how her father influenced her life. She told of the sacrifices her father made, Prince Albert Jones. One of her fathers quotes was "I'd rather go to jail for something I did not do rather than something I had done."

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Ms. Stamps told the story of how local law enforcement in her home town attempted to keep her father and other black citizens from registering to vote. Another one of her fathers quotes, "Do your best, be diligent, work hard, carry yourself with pride and hold your head up."

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Ms. Stamps closed with Langston Hughes' poem "Freedoms Plow." A remarkable, revealing poem, about sacrifices, struggles and the rights of African Americans. Langston Hughes lived in Jim Crow America, born in 1907, died in 1967. His ashes are interned at the Shomberg Library Center in New York, New York.

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A small part of "Freedoms Plow:"

"...Some were slave hands

Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom,

But the word was there always:

Freedom."

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"Down into the earth went the plow

In the free hands and the slave hands,

In indentured hands and adventurous hands,

Turning the rich soil went the plow in many hands

That planted and harvested the food that fed

And the cotton that clothed America..."

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A long time ago,

An enslaved people heading toward freedom

Made up a song: Keep Your Hand On The Plow! Hold On!

The plow plowed a new furrowAcross the field of history.

Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.

From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.

That tree is for everybody,

For all America, for all the world.

May its branches spread and shelter grow

Until all races and all peoples know its shade.

KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW! HOLD ON!

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Langston Hughes' complete poem may be found at "Old Poetry." http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/12628-Langston-Hughes-Freedom-s-Plow

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A special presentation from our celebration event on Tuesday February 1, 2011 at the Scottsboro Boys Museum & Cultural Center which was attended by 85 persons.

 

WAAY TV video

Birmingham Museum of Art - "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy"

Ms Sheila Washington, Director of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center introduces the PBS film, "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy"

Dr. Ellen Spears, University of Alabama was present representing the Scottsboro University-Community Partnership in Scholarship, supported by New College, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the UA Council on Community-Based Partnerships, and the Summersell Center for the Study of the South.

Left to Right in the photo: Mrs. Lynda Hodges, Ms. Gretel Johnston, Ms. Sheila Washington and Mr. Garry Morgan.

Lynda, Gretel and Sheila, we arrived early for a tour of the museum, I was very impressed with the Asian pottery/ceramics/jade section and European Renaissance period oil paintings.
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On January the 27th Sheila Washington, Lynda Hodges, Gretel Johnston and Garry Morgan traveled to the Birmingham Museum of Art for an evening of discussion prior and after the PBS film, "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy."

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Ms. Washington introduced the film and we answered questions afterwords.

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Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/ In this 2001 Academy Award nominated film, filmmakers Barak Goodman and Daniel Ankar retell the extraordinary lost story of the 1931 Scottsboro case, where nine black teenagers were accused of raping two white women. Through never-before-seen-footage, photos, letters, diaries, and eyewitness accounts, Goodman and Ankar give viewers the opportunity to re-examine the case through unbiased eyes.

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Sheila Washington, Founder and Director and Garry Morgan, Historian of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center will introduce the film and lead a post-film discussion.

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Many thanks to the museum staff for their hospitality. Link to the museum: http://www.artsbma.org/visit-the-museum/visitor-information

Black History Month Events at The Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center

Beginning on February the 1st, 2011 the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center will be presenting several programs involving Black History Month. The public is cordially invited to our kick off celebration of Black History Month on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 10AM.

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The featured guest speaker on Tuesday the 1st of February will be Ms. Marilyn Jones Stamps. Ms. Stamps is in charge of the Publications Division of the Alabama Department of Tourism, she is the coordinator of the "Alabama Vacation Guide" and editor of the "Alabama Calender of Events." She has been employed by the State of Alabama for more than 30 years.

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Ms. Stamps has a passion for history which she attributes to growing up in the Civil Rights era of the 1950's and 60s. She grew up in a large family of 15 in the Jonesville Community of Matthews, Alabama.

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During the February 1st program guest speakers will be Senator Shad McGill, District 8 Senator representing Jackson, Dekalb and part of Madison County; Ms.Sadie Bias, Chairperson of the Jackson County Commission and the first woman Chairperson of the Jackson County Commission; Mayor Melton Potter, Mayor of Scottsboro, Alabama; Reverend Robert Shanklyn, past President of the Alabama NAACP and several other guest speakers.

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The February 1, 2011 date is a special date for the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center as it represents the 1st year of operation. The past year has been fantastic, we have received donations to purchase the property for the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center and many in the community have supported our cause. A cause dedicated to telling the story of "The Scottsboro Boys" and how the tragic event begining on March 25, 1931 began the modern Civil Rights era.

Jackson County Voters League Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

Saturday's Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration at the Scottsboro RecCom sponsored by the Jackson County Voters League.

FAMILAR FACES

Martin Luther King, Jr."I have a dream"



The Daily Sentinel's coverage of the Greater St. Paul AME Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. Worship Service on Monday January 17, 2011. http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_19708d10-2298-11e0-bcba-001cc4c002e0.html