NCCU Celebrates Women

Equality is an important concept in Durham, NC.  The city played a critically important role in the Civil Rights movement, and is widely known as an open and accepting haven where everyone is welcome.

North Carolina Central University is offering further manifestation of those brand values by celebrating Women’s History Month with events throughout March. This year’s theme is “New Visions of Culture and Society,” and events include a keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, professor of history and director of the Public History Program at Howard University, on Monday, March 26, at 6 p.m. in the Hubbard–Totton Auditorium. Clark-Lewis will speak from the topic “Black Women in American History and Culture: Carolina Culture in Motion.”

Dr. Elizabeth Clark-Lewis

Clark-Lewis has taught courses on African-American women, women in the United States, African-American history, history of the District of Columbia and the history of African-Americans in Pennsylvania. As director of Howard’s Public History Program, she also has offered courses on museums and archives, oral history, historic preservation and a seminar in the field. She has published books and articles on these subjects, among them “First Freed: Emancipation in the District of Columbia” and “Living In, Living Out: African-American Domestics in Washington, D.C.”  She is the winner of the Letitia Brown Prize in Women’s History.

Clark-Lewis also was the project director and producer for the PBS documentary film “Freedom Bags,” which won the Oscar Micheaux award. Her work has been supported by research grants from the National Park Service, the National Endowment for the Arts, D.C. Arts and Humanities Council, several private and corporate foundations, the state of Virginia, WETA Channel 26 [PBS] and Howard University.

On Monday, March 19, filmmaker and writer Lana Garland and Lenora Helm Hammonds, co-director of the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Community Director, will present “The Art of Collaboration: Women's Work in the Creative Arts” at 6 p.m. in the B.N. Duke Auditorium.

That will be followed by a lecture from Michelle Lanier, director of the African-American Heritage Commission, “Artistry in Bloom: African-American Women Artists of North Carolina,” on Wednesday, March 21, at 11 a.m. in the Hubbard–Totton Auditorium

The month-long celebration will end with a presentation by civil rights activist and former chair of Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Dr. Lavonia Allison. Allison will speak from the topic, “The Struggle for Civil Rights in Durham” on March 29 at 4 p.m. in the Edmonds Classroom Building, Room 207.

The list of events also includes lectures and panel discussions by NCCU faculty members and students. 
The 2012 Women’s History Lecture Series honors Dr. Helen Gray Edmonds, first African-American woman in the United States to serve as dean of a graduate school. Edmonds served as dean of graduate studies at NCCU and chair of the Department of History. For a full list of events, visit NCCU's website.  For a complete list of events happening in Durham, visit the Durham Community Event Calendar.