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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240209T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240209T210000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
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SUMMARY:Soheap Pich | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
DESCRIPTION:This speaker event was recorded live on Thursday\, February 1\, 2024 at 5:30 pm in the Michigan Theater\, Ann Arbor\, MI. \nSopheap Pich is widely considered to be Cambodia’s most internationally prominent contemporary artist. In 1979\, when the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia led to the ousting of the Khmer Rouge régime\, he fled with his family to Thailand\, spending four years in refugee camps before immigrating to the United States. Memories of traveling vast distances on foot and witnessing the devastation of war — broken bodies\, ravaged landscapes\, abandoned artillery\, ruined buildings\, and the breakdown of social and cultural institutions — underpin his early sculptural practice. While Pich studied painting\, earning a BFA from the University of Massachusetts\, Amherst (1995)\, and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1999)\, he turned his attention to sculpture after returning to Cambodia in 2002 where he laboriously began working with local materials – bamboo\, old rafters\, rattan\, burlap\, beeswax\, broken utensils\, and earth pigments gathered from his local surroundings. Pich’s works have been collected and shown in many museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art\, the Guggenheim\, the Centre George Pompidou\, the Mori Art Museum\, M+\, and the National Gallery of Singapore\, as well as many international exhibitions including the 57th Venice Biennale (2017)\, Documenta 13 (2012)\, the 6th Asia Pacific Triennale (2009)\, the Setouchi Triennale (2022)\, and the Guangju Biennale (2023)\, among others. He lives and works in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia. \nLearn More>> \n\n\nThe Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Spring 2024 Season\nThis spring\, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events. \nDetroit Public Television and PBS Books\, in partnership with the Stamps School\, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm. \nSee the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here. \nSome programs may not be available online\, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming. \nWatch Past Penny Stamps Episodes
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/soheap-pich-penny-stamps-distinguished-speaker-series/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240214T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240214T210000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
CREATED:20240202T161827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240219T214458Z
UID:8598-1707940800-1707944400@www.pbsbooks.org
SUMMARY:Author Talk with Cheryl Wills
DESCRIPTION:Program Description:\nPBS Books host Heather-Marie Montilla sits down with author and journalist Cheryl Wills to discuss her book Isn’t Her Grace Amazing! The Women Who Changed Gospel Music. Join us as Cheryl reflects on her inspiration and motivation behind this stunning portrayal of these legendary women\, with powerful accounts of their resilience and strength in their words. We’ll explore the books’ gorgeous photographs of these dynamic women\, which capture their importance and prominence\, and hear more about the stories behind these icons of the gospel and why their timeless messages have held strong for generations. \nBook Description:\nNothing in the world soothes the soul better than Gospel music. From the foot-stomping\, hand-clapping melodies of yesterday to the head-bobbing\, bass-thumping hits of today\, Gospel music ignites the spirit and delivers the inspiration that takes us from the rough side of the mountain to the peak of God’s love and grace. That feeling of joy\, peace\, love\, and contentment is amplified when it’s ringing through the voice of a sister who can SANG\, Cheryl Wills reminds us. The remedy for a tough day at work can be alleviated with Mary Mary’s uplifting jam Shackles\, the answer to your heart’s desires can be found in the harmonies of The Clark Sisters Name It\, Claim It\, and if you need a reminder of God’s love\, there is nothing more timeless that Aretha Franklin’s stirring rendition of Amazing Grace. \nSome talented performers\, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe have faded from history\, while singers like Yolanda Adams are at the top of her game. During the twentieth century\, Willie Mae Ford spent most of her life encouraging and uplifting Christians both in church and on stage and composed more than 100 Gospel songs\, yet it was men like her co-writer\, Thomas A. Dorsey\, who received the accolades and fame. Many women in the Gospel music industry go unnoticed\, unpaid\, and under-appreciated for their contributions\, yet it is these women who are often the bedrock for songwriting\, arranging\, directing\, and developing singers. \nCheryl Wills\, the granddaughter of a Gospel singer\, at last shines a spotlight on these spectacular women of song. The only book of its kind\, Isn’t Her Grace Amazing! showcase the talents\, gifts\, and skills of women in the Gospel music industry. It celebrates these heroines\, chronicles their journeys from the choir loft to the world’s largest stages\, and reveals how they revolutionized this sacred music that is beloved worldwide. From the matriarchs of this movement to today’s chart-topping divas\, Wills offers in-depth portraits of twenty-five amazing women of Gospel music–based on interviews and extensive research–behind-the-scenes stories of favorite gospel hits\, and illuminates what makes each of them shine. \nGuest Biography:\nCheryl Wills is a veteran journalist with Spectrum News NY1. The Emmy Award winning reporter and author has written a series of books about her enslaved great-grandfather who was a Union Soldier during The Civil War. Cheryl has interviewed some of the most influential figures in the world\, including the first woman president of Africa: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and the late great writer and activist Maya Angelou. \nShe lives in New York City. For more than a decade she was the host of the Essence Festival’s All-Star Gospel Tribute\, a standing room only event that has honored Cissy Houston\, Kim Burrell\, Yolanda Adams\, Kirk Franklin\, Mary Mary\, Bishop T.D. Jakes\, Dorinda Clark-Cole among many others.
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/cheryl-wills/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240216T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240216T210000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
CREATED:20240213T191514Z
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SUMMARY:Nkeiru Okoye | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
DESCRIPTION:This speaker event was recorded live on Thursday\, February 8\, 2024 at 5:30 pm in the Michigan Theater\, Ann Arbor\, MI. \nNkeiru Okoye is an American-born composer of African American and Nigerian ancestry. After studying composition\, music theory\, piano\, conducting\, and Africana Studies at Oberlin Conservatory\, she pursued graduate studies at Rutgers University and became one of the leading African American women composers. An activist through the arts\, Okoye creates a body of work that welcomes and affirms both traditional and new audiences. \nNkeiru Okoye’s new commission When the Caged Bird Sings premieres on Saturday\, February 10\, 2024 at 7:30 PM at UM’s Hill Auditorium\, as a collaboration between UMS and the U‑M School of Music\, Theatre & Dance. When the Caged Bird Sings fuses elements of oratorio\, theater\, and opera in a multi-movement musical ceremony\, which Okoye describes as ​“a gathering” that invokes the ritual of the concert experience as a ritual of community. Drawing inspiration from the Black church\, it celebrates the spirit of rising above expectations and transforming adversity into triumph. Partly in tribute to the activist and poet laureate Maya Angelou\, the work celebrates the transformative ability of Black women\, commemorating those who have paved a path for future generations in many fields of human endeavor. \nLearn More>> \n\n\nThe Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Spring 2024 Season\nThis spring\, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events. \nDetroit Public Television and PBS Books\, in partnership with the Stamps School\, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm. \nSee the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here. \nSome programs may not be available online\, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming. \nWatch Past Penny Stamps Episodes
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/nkeiru-okoye-penny-stamps-distinguished-speaker-series/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240223T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240223T210000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
CREATED:20240213T215534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240313T141940Z
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SUMMARY:Kelli Anderson | The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
DESCRIPTION:This speaker event was recorded live on Thursday\, February 15\, 2024 at 5:30 pm in the Michigan Theater\, Ann Arbor\, MI. \nKelli Anderson has found that design — and paper engineering in particular — enables one to find possibility hiding in plain view in our world. Interactions with even the most ubiquitous\, low-tech materials can reveal amazing facets of our reality. This is because these radically minimalist structures still behave in concert with the physical and social forces which structure our world. With no hidden parts\, humble paper can act as a direct interface on sound\, light\, and time; making these abstractions tangible and accessible\, in a way that more black-box tech obscures. It can show us what it means to be human. \nKelli Anderson is an artist\, designer and paper engineer who pushes the boundaries of ordinary materials and formats by seeking out hidden possibilities in the physical and digital world. In 2008\, she worked as part of a team to distribute a recreated copy of The New York Times — filled entirely with articles from a Utopian future. The group won the Ars Electronica Prix Award of Distinction for their work. In 2011\, she created a paper record player that garnered major attention from numerous media outlets including Mashable\, Kottke\, Slashdot\, Make\, PCWorld\, Swiss Miss\, Wired\, the Toronto Star\, and NPR. Her work has been published by Wired UK\, Gestalten\, Rockport Publishing\, iDN\, How Design Magazine\, and Hemispheres Magazine. In 2011\, she left her position as a digital collections photographer at the American Museum of Natural History to focus on independent work. Her live/​work space houses a 1919 letterpress and ​“an assortment of other benevolent contraptions.” \nLearn More>> \n\n\nThe Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Spring 2024 Season\nThis spring\, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings respected leaders and innovators from a broad spectrum of creative fields to Ann Arbor’s historic Michigan Theater for weekly in-person events. \nDetroit Public Television and PBS Books\, in partnership with the Stamps School\, will stream each week’s event Fridays at 8pm. \nSee the full schedule of events livestreamed by PBS Books here. \nSome programs may not be available online\, depending on artist requests. Interested in receiving notifications before online videos go live? Sign up to receive a reminder before each event begins streaming. \nWatch Past Penny Stamps Episodes
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/kelli-anderson-penny-stamps-distinguished-speaker-series/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240228T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240228T210000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
CREATED:20240205T150357Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250731T201458Z
UID:8609-1709150400-1709154000@www.pbsbooks.org
SUMMARY:PBS Books Readers Club - Henry Louis Gates\, Jr.
DESCRIPTION:Readers Club HomeEpisodes \nJoin the PBS Books Readers Club as we sit down with author\, scholar\, and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates\, Jr. for a deeper look at the stories and inspirations behind his bestselling book The Black Church: This Is Our Story\, This Is Our Song. Prof. Gates guides us through the roots of the Black church and its importance as a foundation of American identity. Prof. Gates also explores over a century of Black spirituality through sermon & song in his newest PBS series Gospel\, discusses the long-buried secrets that are brought to life in his hit PBS series Finding Your Roots\, and teases his soon-to-be-released book The Black Box: Writing The Race. \nGet the E-BookDonate and get your e-book copy. \nThe Black Church\nFor the young Henry Louis Gates\, Jr.\, growing up in a small\, residentially segregated West Virginia town\, the church was a center of gravity—an intimate place where voices rose up in song and neighbors gathered to celebrate life’s blessings and offer comfort amid its trials and tribulations. In this tender and expansive reckoning with the meaning of the Black Church in America\, Gates takes us on a journey spanning more than five centuries\, from the intersection of Christianity and the transatlantic slave trade to today’s political landscape. At road’s end\, and after Gates’s distinctive meditation on the churches of his childhood\, we emerge with a new understanding of the importance of African American religion to the larger national narrative—as a center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy\, as a magnet for political mobilization\, as an incubator of musical and oratorical talent that would transform the culture\, and as a crucible for working through the Black community’s most critical personal and social issues. \nIn a country that has historically afforded its citizens from the African diaspora tragically few safe spaces\, the Black Church has always been more than a sanctuary. This fact was never lost on white supremacists: from the earliest days of slavery\, when enslaved people were allowed to worship at all\, their meetinghouses were subject to surveillance and destruction. Long after slavery’s formal eradication\, church burnings and bombings by anti-Black racists continued\, a hallmark of the violent effort to suppress the African American struggle for equality. The past often isn’t even past—Dylann Roof committed his slaughter in the Mother Emanuel AME Church 193 years after it was first burned down by white citizens of Charleston\, South Carolina\, following a thwarted slave rebellion. \nBut as Gates brilliantly shows\, the Black church has never been only one thing. Its story lies at the heart of the Black political struggle\, and it has produced many of the Black community’s most notable leaders. At the same time\, some churches and denominations have eschewed political engagement and exemplified practices of exclusion and intolerance that have caused polarization and pain. Those tensions remain today\, as a rising generation demands freedom and dignity for all within and beyond their communities\, regardless of race\, sex\, or gender. Still\, as a source of faith and refuge\, spiritual sustenance and struggle against society’s darkest forces\, the Black Church has been central\, as this enthralling history makes vividly clear. \nGet the E-BookDonate and get your e-book copy on March 19. \nThe Black Box\nDistilled over many years from Henry Louis Gates\, Jr.’s legendary Harvard introductory course in African American Studies\, THE BLACK BOX: Writing the Race\, is the story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. From Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass\, W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington\, to Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright\, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison—these writers used words to create a livable world—a “home” —for Black people destined to live out their lives in a bitterly racist society. \nIt is a book grounded in the beautiful irony that a community formed legally and conceptually by its oppressors to justify brutal sub-human bondage\, transformed itself through the word into a community whose foundational definition was based on overcoming one of history’s most pernicious lies. This collective act of resistance and transcendence is at the heart of its self-definition as a “community.” Out of that contested ground has flowered a resilient\, creative\, powerful\, diverse culture formed by people who have often disagreed markedly about what it means to be “Black\,” and about how best to shape a usable past out of the materials at hand to call into being a more just and equitable future. \nThis is the epic story of how\, through essays and speeches\, novels\, plays\, and poems\, a long line of creative thinkers has unveiled the contours of—and resisted confinement in—the “black box” inside which this “nation within a nation” has been assigned\, willy nilly\, from the nation’s founding through to today. This is a book that records the compelling saga of the creation of a people. \nFinding Your Roots\nFINDING YOUR ROOTS with Henry Louis Gates\, Jr. returns for its 10th season on PBS. Over the course of ten new episodes\, Gates and his team use genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace the family trees of well-known personalities\, telling stories that illuminate America’s shared past and fundamental diversity. With each turn of the page in their “book of life”\, Gates reveals to his guests the long-buried secrets\, hidden identities\, and lost ancestors who have laid the groundwork for their success. In learning the emotional and sometimes complex narratives of their ancestry\, each guest achieves a deeper understanding of history\, family\, and belonging. What’s more\, this new season features some special guests— drawn from the audience. Following a nation-wide casting call\, three viewers were selected to join the line-up of celebrities and sit down with Gates to solve a family mystery and discover what lies hidden in their own roots. \nGOSPEL\nFollowing the blockbuster success of THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY\, THIS IS OUR SONG\, a new. series\, GOSPEL\, from acclaimed scholar Henry Louis Gates\, Jr. explores Black spirituality through sermon and song. From the blues to hip-hop\, African Americans have been the driving force of sonic innovation for over a century. But\, while musical styles come and go\, there is one sound that has been a constant source of strength\, courage\, and wisdom. It is a message that resounds from the pulpit to the choir lofts on any given Sunday — one of good news in bad times: gospel. \nOver the course of four episodes\, GOSPEL digs deep into the origin story of Black gospel music that blended the sacred spirituals with the blues tradition and soared to new heights during the Great Migration. Since the time of the sorrow songs\, Black sacred music was a cathartic and confidential way to communicate the anger and frustration of living as a Black person in America. Even in the 21st century\, gospel continues to evolve and remains a source of cultural affirmation and sustenance\, bringing an enduring tradition into the future. The series also traces how preaching styles evolved from the musical “whoopers\,” to the slick TV-ready lectures of megachurch pastors. In addition\, the documentary explores how class\, gender\, cultural innovations and consumer technologies — such as records\, radio\, television and the internet — shaped the development of Black preaching and gospel over the centuries. \nGuest Biography:\nHenry Louis Gates Jr.\nAward-winning filmmaker\, literary scholar\, journalist\, cultural critic\, and institution builder\nHenry Louis Gates\, Jr.\, is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. An award-winning filmmaker\, literary scholar\, journalist\, cultural critic\, and institution builder\, Professor Gates has authored or coauthored more than twenty books\, including Stony the Road\, The Black Church\, and The Black Box\, and created more than twenty documentary films\, including his groundbreaking genealogy series Finding Your Roots. \nHis six-part PBS documentary\, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross\, earned an Emmy Award\, a Peabody Award\, and an NAACP Image Award. This series and his PBS documentary series Reconstruction: America after the Civil War were both honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. \nReaders Club Hosts:\nHeather Marie Montilla\nHeather-Marie Montilla\, a dynamic integrative leader\, is an educator and nonprofit manager. She has worked in the nonprofit sector and libraries for over two decades\, making a positive impact in arts\, cultural\, educational\, and community-building arenas. \nHaving joined the PBS Books team as their Library Bureau Chief in Fall 2018\, Montilla is now the National Director of PBS Books and has interviewed more than 150 writers. In addition\, she is a faculty member at Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University for their Arts and Cultural/Entertainment Management Programs. Having been an Executive Director for 8 years\, Heather has a wide range of experience in management\, finance\, strategic planning\, marketing\, and fundraising. Heather holds a MPA From Columbia University\, a MLIS from Wayne State University\, and a bachelor’s from Duke University. She lives in Chicagoland\, and is married with four children\, a dog\, and a bird. \nPrincess Weekes\nPrincess Weekes is an award winning writer and video essayist who works at breaking down the intersections between race\, gender\, and pop culture. Formally an Assistant Editor at The Mary Sue\, co-host of Netflix’s The Geeked Podcast\, and co-host and co-writer on the PBS Digital Series It’s Lit. On weekends she works as a bookseller at a local bookstore. When not reading or writing she can be found playing TTRPGs of cuddling with her cat\, Lola. \nLauren Smith\nExecutive Producer and host of national PBS programming at Detroit Public TV\, Lauren develops content for PBS and other distributors of public media for broadcast\, streaming\, and other digital channels and has executive-produced and/or produced over 60 national broadcast and programs. Her passion is to develop inspiring\, entertaining\, and educational content alongside the best national and international talent\, and to engage important content with communities across the country. Lauren loves to read and has worked to develop and produce PBS Books content for nearly ten years! \nFred Nahhat \nFred Nahhat is an Emmy Award-winning producer\, host\, and presenter for Detroit’s PBS station\, where he serves as Sr. VP of Production. A 30-year broadcast veteran\, Fred has hosted and produced numerous programs for Public TV – including music specials from Il Volo\, Celtic Gold and the New Divas – as well as other series and specials “New Year’s Eve with the DSO”\, “The Detroit Dream Cruise\,” “The PBS Books Readers Club” and “Get Up\, Get Out\,” among others. \nHe is a graduate of Wayne State University and a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan Chapter\, USA Hockey\, and Leadership Detroit.
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/readers-club-102/
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20240229T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20240229T203000
DTSTAMP:20260615T231915
CREATED:20240221T155451Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240320T140600Z
UID:8724-1709236800-1709238600@www.pbsbooks.org
SUMMARY:Visions of America: African American Family Stories and Genealogy - Visiting the International African American Museum and Exploring Connections
DESCRIPTION:Visions of America HomeEpisodes \nProgram Description:\nUncovering African American Stories and Genealogy: Visiting the International African American Museum and Exploring Connections\, part of the VISIONS OF AMERICA: All Stories\, All People\, All Places series\, produced collaboratively by PBS Books and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The program is hosted by the National Director of PBS Books\, Heather-Marie Montilla\, and the IMLS Acting Director\, Cyndee Landrum. \nCelebrating lesser-known stories of African Americans\, IMLS Deputy Director of Museum Services Laura Huerta Migus begins our journey at the International African American Museum (IAAM) in Charleston\, South Carolina with the Museum’s President and CEO Dr. Tonya Matthews and the Museum’s Center for Family History’s Director Brian Sheffey. IAAM is a newly opened museum\, which tells the unvarnished stories of the African American experience.   \nAnthony Smith\, who is the Associate Deputy Director for Discretionary Grants for Libraries at IMLS and a hobbyist genealogist\, speaks with librarian and scholar Dr. LaVerne Gray\, who is an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University and the recipient of an IMLS grant supporting her project: Uncovering Black Lives Project: Investigating the information community and collections of African Americans Genealogists. We’ll investigate the connections and collectives that bring people together in community and how they contribute to the genealogical field.  \nGuest Biographies:\nTonya M. Matthews\, Ph.D. – President & CEO\, International African American Museum\nDr. Tonya M. Matthews is a thought-leader in social entrepreneurship\, institutional equity and inclusion strategy\, and the intersection of formal and informal education. Her background as both poet and engineer has made her a highly sought-after visioning partner on boards and community and economic development projects\, as well as a frequent public speaker and presenter for gatherings across all ages and sectors. \nRead More\nA non-profit executive veteran\, Dr. Matthews is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the International African American Museum (IAAM) located in Charleston\, SC at the historically sacred site of Gadsden’s Wharf. Under Dr. Matthews’ leadership\, IAAM has become a champion of authentic\, empathetic storytelling of African American history and thus is one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as America continues the walk toward “a more perfect union.” \nDr. Matthews brings her “pre-K through gray” philosophy of education alongside a deep respect for life-long learning and radical empathy skill building to every appointment. Dr. Matthews’ storied career includes her role as Associate Provost for Inclusive Workforce Development & Director of the STEM Innovation Learning Center at Wayne State University and\, prior to that\, as the President & CEO of the Michigan Science Center – flexing her science and STEM educational equity chops in both roles. She is the founder of The STEMinista Project\, a movement to engage girls in their future with STEM careers and tools and STEMinista Rising\, which supports professional women in STEM – and the colleagues who champion them. \nDr. Matthews’ dedication to community and accomplishments are widely recognized. She has been noted as one of the Charleston’s Most Influential by Charleston Business Magazine twice and honored as Trailblazer by Career Mastered Magazine (2017). She is a former member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Science Education and was appointed by both Democratic and Republican administrations to the National Assessment Governing Board. She has authored several articles and book chapters on inclusive board governance\, non-profit management\, and fundraising. Dr. Matthews is a published poet and is included in 100 Best African American Poems (2010) edited by Nikki Giovanni. She has also been honored with an honorary doctorate from Central Michigan University for her career achievements and contributions. \nDr. Matthews received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her B.S.E. in biomedical and electrical engineering from Duke University\, alongside a certificate in African/African American Studies. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority\, Inc. and The Links\, Inc. Dr. Matthews is a native of Washington\, D.C. and – in each community she has settled – is known for planting roots on the side of town best for keeping an eye on progress. \nLaVerne Gray\, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor\nLaVerne Gray comes to the iSchool after recently completing her PhD in the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee\, Knoxville. Her dissertation\, “In a Collective Voice: Uncovering the Black Feminist Information Community of Activist-Mothers in Chicago Public Housing\, 1955-1970\,” explores Black feminist agency in community development within constructed urban spaces. \nRead More\nThe study employs qualitative analyses of archival documents\, to reveal a Black Feminist Information Community(BFIC) framework. Her research was supported through the 2017 Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) Fellowship\, where she used archives throughout the city of Chicago to explore evidence for her research. \nUsing Critical Race and Black Feminist perspectives\, LaVerne Gray’s research explores information location and value in marginal community spaces. She is keenly interested in African-American historical information collectives and archival-evidence analysis. \nBrian Sheffey – Director of the Center for Family History at the International African American History Museum\nBrian Sheffey is the Director of the Center for Family History at the International African American History Museum in Charleston\, South Carolina. He is the host of the popular African American genealogy\, culture\, and history television series Genealogy Adventures\, which he presents with Donya Williams on e360tv. \nRead More\nHis research areas have focused on the U.S. regions east of the Mississippi River\, including the northern British American Colonies. He has particular expertise in researching enslaved people and enslaved communities in the early British American colonial era. \nIn 2023\, he was hired by the University of Virginia Foundation to research and find the descendants of the enslaved community held at William Garth’s Birdwood Plantation in Charlottesville\, Virginia. He has also spent the past few years researching the ancestry of communities of enslaved people held by the Bull\, Butler\, Middleton\, Brewerton\, and Guerard families in South Carolina. \nBrian is the author of two award-winning Amazon Top 10 selling genealogy books: “Practical Genealogy: 50 Simple Steps to Research Your Diverse Family History” and “Family Tree Workbook: 30+ Step-by-Step Worksheets to Build Your Family History.” \nAnthony D. Smith – Associate Deputy Director for Discretionary Grants\, Office of Library Services\, at the Institute of Museum and Library Services\nAnthony D. Smith is the Associate Deputy Director for Discretionary Grants\, within the Office of Library Services\, at the Institute of Museum and Library Services. \nRead More\nIn his role\, Anthony has oversight and management responsibilities for the National Leadership Grants for Libraries\, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program\, Native American Library Services Basic and Enhancement Grants\, Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants\, and the Native Hawaiian Library Services Grant program. He has worked in the Federal government since 2010\, serving in various roles supporting national library programs. Anthony began his library career in 1995 after a 10-year career in the U.S. Navy. He joined the University of Tennessee Library Systems team\, where his work involved replacing “dumb terminals” with new desktop computers and providing maintenance support for library staff. During his time at the University of Tennessee\, Knoxville\, he would earn his master’s in library and information science. This led to a tenure-track position as the digital initiatives’ librarian and then coordinator\, overseeing the establishment and operation of the Digital Library Center.  Mentoring and teaching factored heavily into Anthony earning tenure in 2006. In addition to teaching graduate courses in digital librarianship\, he also traveled to Makerere University in Uganda to teach digital library skills for library staff.  Continuing to build on his professional skillset\, Anthony applied to ARLs Leadership Career Development Program (LCDP) and was accepted in the class of 2007-08. “It was a pivotal career moment for me and opened a number of career doors\,” says Anthony. In 2007\, Anthony accepted an associate university librarian role at the University of Miami\, as the director for digital services. Through his work at UM and his previous experience teaching abroad\, he was invited to teach digital asset management and digital preservation courses for UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (OOC) in Oostende\, Belgium. His work for the OOC occurred between 2009 – 2012 and is an experience he considers the most rewarding work of his career. Anthony would leave UM in 2010\, accepting the role of Senior Program Officer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  Serving as a program officer for the National Leadership Grant program\, he was able to help shape the national agenda for libraries. He also successfully led the development of an early learning grant program designed to ensure that libraries were poised to support early reading skills. In 2013\, Anthony joined the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) at the Government Publishing Office and was appointed as the Director of Projects and Systems. In this role\, he led a team responsible for the development\, implementation\, and maintenance of systems to support over 1100 member libraries throughout the United States and its territories. In addition\, he oversaw web harvesting activities and the program management office. In 2020\, he would return to IMLS as the Associate Deputy Director for all library discretionary grant programs. “I don’t think I would change a thing if I got a chance to do all over again\,” says Anthony. “I have been positioned in a way throughout my career where I could do for others\, which is priceless.” \nLaura Huerta Migus – Deputy Director for Museum Services\nLaura Huerta Migus was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Museum Services in July 2021. She came to IMLS following her tenure as executive director of the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) in Arlington\, Virginia\, the world’s largest professional society promoting and advocating on behalf of children’s museums and children’s museum professionals. \nRead More\nThroughout her career\, Huerta Migus has been devoted to the growth and education of children\, particularly those from underserved and under-resourced communities. Under her leadership\, ACM pursued innovative and effective partnerships to leverage the power of children’s museums worldwide. \nIn 2018\, Huerta Migus was named as an Ascend Fellow of the Aspen Institute\, and in 2016\, she was recognized as a Champion of Change for Summer Opportunity by the White House. She is a noted speaker and author on topics of equity and audience-focused museum practice for institutions including the Board of Science Education of the National Academies of Sciences\, the U.S. Play Coalition\, and various university texts. \nPreviously\, she served as the director of professional development and equity initiatives at the Association of Science-Technology Centers\, Inc.\, has published articles in peer-reviewed texts\, and served as principal investigator on numerous informal learning initiatives. \nSince joining IMLS\, Huerta Migus has helped the agency establish the American Latino Museum Internship and Fellowship Initiative (ALMIFI). This initiative is designed to strengthen the institutional capacity of American Latino museums\, provide paid internship and fellowship opportunities for a diverse range of students\, and build connections between colleges\, universities\, and museums. \nShe also worked closely with IMLS’ Office of Research and Evaluation to successfully launch the first National Museum Survey (NMS)\, which will capture the scope and scale of museums’ presence and reach within the U.S. over time. Once mature\, the survey will collect foundational\, high-level data directly from museums to inform policymakers\, the museum field\, and the public about the social\, cultural\, educational\, and economic roles that the nation’s diverse museums play in American society. \nHuerta Migus holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in organization development and leadership from Saint Joseph’s University. \nCyndee Landrum – Deputy Director for Library Services\nCyndee Landrum was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Office of Library Services in June 2019. In her current role she collaborates with IMLS’s senior leadership to support agency priorities\, policy\, and partnerships\, and provide leadership and direction for the library grant programs. \nRead More\nLandrum oversees the agency’s largest program\, Grants to States\, which is the primary source of federal funding for library services in the United States\, and the agency’s discretionary grant programs\, including National Leadership Grants for Libraries\, the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program\, Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services\, and the newest library grant initiative\, Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries. \nOver a professional career of more than 20 years\, Landrum has served in public libraries across the country. Prior to her IMLS appointment\, she served as CEO-director of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library in Indiana. She also served as assistant director for public services at Oak Park Library in Illinois\, assistant director of Mt. Lebanon Public Library in Pittsburgh\, and held various positions at the Glendale Public Library in Arizona. She has been active in local\, state\, and national professional associations including serving as president of the Arizona Library Association. Landrum also has volunteered on local nonprofit and municipal boards\, including the Evansville Promise Zone Governance Advisory Board. \nLandrum holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Northwestern University\, a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Southern Mississippi\, and is a doctoral candidate in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University.
URL:https://www.pbsbooks.org/event/african-american-family-stories-and-genealogy/
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