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Section: Community

Amistad Research Center is pleased to sponsor the following events. All events take place in the Center's Reading Room unless otherwise noted and are subject to change. For more information, please call (504) 862-3222.

October 2008

Book Talk with Arthur Lee Ford, Jr.
Thursday, October 2, 3:00pm

Arthur Lee Ford, Jr. was born in 1947 at Shreveport, Louisiana. Although his family's home was located in Bolinger, Louisiana, Ford spent much of his youth working the cotton fields in the nearby sharecropping community of Wardview (also known as the Lake Bottoms). Aggravated by the social limitations of the segregated Deep South, Ford fled Louisiana for California after graduating from high school, and eventually settled in Michigan. Ford's book, When the Whippoorwill Sang: A Memoir of Rural Life During the Twilight of the Segregated South, focuses on the subtle constraints imposed on all rural African Americans in the segregated South and the central dilemma that defined their lives - a bounded existence imposed on individuals with boundless aspirations and abilities.

Ford will discuss and sign copies of his memoir, which will be for sale during the talk. An exhibition, Images of the Rural South, 1934-1950, from the Scrapbook of Ruth A. Morton, will also be on display.

November 2008

A Celebration of the Life of Clifton H. Johnson
Saturday, November 1, 2:00pm
Location: New Orleans Museum of Art, City Park

This memorial will celebrate the life, career, and associations of Amistad's founder and director emeritus, Clifton H. Johnson, who passed away in May 2008. An exhibition of Dr. Johnson's personal papers will accompany the memorial.

United Church of Christ Historical Council
Thursday-Saturday, November 13-15

The United Church of Christ Historical Council was created in 1975 by the Tenth General Synod of the United Church of Christ. The Historical Council expresses concern for all archival collections related to the denomination and reminds the United Church of Christ of its traditions. Amistad Research Center holds the records for the American Missionary Association, as well as for the United Church Board for Homeland Missions offices that continued the work of the A.M.A. Amistad is helping coordinate activities for the Historical Council's 2008 annual meeting in New Orleans. A public event hosted by the Center on Saturday, November 15th, is being finalized and more information is forthcoming.

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