Upcoming Events and Community Information

Martin Luther King, Jr. Program

The speaker will be Karla Clapp Holloway, the James B. Duke Professor of English and Professor of Law at Duke University. Professor Holloway is a native of Buffalo and a graduate of Bennett High School. Her mother Ouida Clapp former Director of Language Arts for the Buffalo Public Schools made certain that Karla’s love for reading was carefully directed, and her father Claude D. Clapp who retired as Deputy Superintendent of the Buffalo Public Schools assured her respect for and interest in education.

Her research and teaching focus on African American cultural studies, bicultural studies, ethics, and law. Her national and institutional board memberships include the Greenwall Foundation’s Advisory Board in Bioethics. She is a co-founder of Duke University’s John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute a lasting tribute for her long friendship with the late Professor John Hope Franklin.

Professor Holloway is the author of over 40 essays, and 8 books including Private Bodies, Public Texts: Race, Gender, and a Cultural Bioethics just released in 2011. She has a long standing interest in the multi-layered landscape of black cultural studies, particularly with respect to memorials and monuments. Her book Passed On: African American Mourning Stories- A Memorial is evidence of that interest.

A Reception will immediately follow the program. This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Barbara Nevergold is the President of AAHANF and Dr. Felix Armfield is the MLK Program Chair.

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2012 CARTER G. WOODSON ESSAY

The contest is open to all young people in grades 4 – 12. Essays must be written (printed or typed) in 500 WORDS OR LESS (200 WORDS MINIMUM) on the topic: A SALUTE TO AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESSES IN WESTERN NEW YORK” Essays must be written about an African American Business person or business in Western New York. Include information on when the business was established, who founded it, what were the products or services of the business. How did the business help the community? The essay could be written on a present business or one that is no longer operating. Interviews are acceptable and photos are welcome, but not required.

Essays must be received by WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012. Send to – Carter G. Woodson Essay Contest, P.O. Box 63, Buffalo, New York 14207 or leave at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch Library, 1324 Jefferson Avenue @ E. Utica St. Your name, address, telephone number, school and grade must be written on your essay.

Essays will be judged on content, quality and depth of research, clarity and neatness.

Cash prizes will be awarded in three categories: Grades 4-6; Grades 7-9; Grades 10-12.

First prize - $50 Second prize - $35 Third prize - $25

Winning essays will be read by the participants at the African American History Program at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library, 1324 Jefferson Avenue on Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. Essays will also be printed in Historically Speaking, April 2012.

Sponsored by the Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library – Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Branch, Buffalo Branch NAACP – ACT-SO, Buffalo Public Schools – Dept. of Social Studies and others to be announced.

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Experience Black History at the Nash House Museum, 36 Nash Street, Buffalo, NY during the month of February. Explore the home of the late Rev. and Mrs. J. Edward Nash, pastor of the historic Michigan Street Baptist Church from 1892 – 1953. Group tours may be arranged by appointment. 716-856-4490.

Research African American History at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library

The Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library -- a branch of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library -- has a substantial collection of local, national and international African -American history. The William A. Miles Resource Center for African and African-American history offers many unique resources including the Schomburg Clipping File, which is a periodical and newspaper clipping file. This unique collection also includes typescripts, broadsides, pamphlets, programs, book reviews, menus and various other short publications dealing with black history and culture. An important source for research into all aspects of black activities and accomplishments, the file brings together a huge diversity of material organized by subject and totaling almost a million pages not duplicated elsewhere.