Portsmouth Black Heritage Tea Talks 2014

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Black history is American history. Join us for talks at Discover POrtsmouth. This year's topics from include lectures on African American sailors, Tuskegee Airmen, Black Indians, Slave history, Civil Rights anniversary, and more. (Click headline for schedule)

Clip and save. Since conditions may change, please be sure to check with Discover Portsmouth to confirm the date, time, and topic before attending events. The number is 603-436-8433

Elinor Williams Hooker Winter Tea Talks:

A series of participatory lectures related to New Hampshire’s Black history and African American culture

The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail is proud to announce the naming of its Winter Tea Talk lecture series, now in its second year, to honor Nashua resident and social activist Elinor Williams Hooker.  In collaboration with the Seacoast African American Cultural Center the series of lectures will be held on the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month from2-4PM, at Discover Portsmouth, 10 Middle St..

Sunday, February 2 at 2PM
“Tuskegee Airman: One Man’s Story” by James Sheppard
James Sheppard, one of the few remaining Tuskegee Airmen from World War II, will share his story and his experiences as a member of the first group of African-American military aviators. The Maine resident enlisted at age 18 in the Army Air Force during World War II and was assigned to Tuskegee Air Field in Alabama, where he learned to fix planes and helped break racial barriers. Opening event will celebrate the naming of the Tea Talks.

Sunday, February 9, 2PM
"Being Black in New Hampshire: Two Hundred Years of African American Writers in the Granite State" by Jeff Bolster
Professor Bolster will illuminate two hundred years of African-American Granite Staters' triumphs and tragedies. Reception announcing the Valerie Cunningham Society for the Preservation for African American History will follow talk.

Sunday, February 16 at 2PM
Black Indians: an American Story. Film Discussion Facilitated by Siobhan Senier 

This award-winning feature examines a minority group that is discounted and often ignored by mainstream media. Sharing a common past many African Americans and Native Americans have combined to create a unique culture that has meshed the traditions and fine heritage of both.

Sunday, February 23 at 2PM
Special Black History Month Program: 12 Years a Slave Panel discussion lead by Joe Onosko, Delia Konzett 
The film, 12 Years a Slave is based on the experiences of Solomon Northup, a free Northern black man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. This program will involve the audience in a discussion of the film, and  panelists will suggest ways in which the film can be used in high school classrooms to enhance student understanding of slavery in the United States.

Sunday, March 9 at 2PM
“The Making of a Novel” by Virginia L. Towler
Local author, Ginny Towler, will discuss her soon-to-be-published novelSevered, and the painstaking efforts it took to write and self publish. Towler hopes that the result of her labor- a book of intrigue  and suspense that features a Black female scientist as its protagonist -- will shed insight into "post-racial" Black self-identification. 

Sunday, March 23 at 2PM
The Negro Sailor: Film and special guest, Former Submariner Alexander Welch
Few Americans, black or white, recognize the degree to which early African American history is a maritime history.  Seafaring was one of the most significant occupations among both enslaved and free black men between 1740 and 1865. A discussion, featuring retired submariner and NH resident Alexander Welch, will follow the film.

Sunday, April 13 at 2PM
New Hampshire’s Battle for Civil Rights: A 50 Year Retrospective by Valerie Cunningham
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 will turn 50 on July 2, 2014. This talk will outline local events in the years leading up to the federal Civil Rights Act and some of the city’s most courageous citizens who fought for a society in which all could live as equals.

Sunday, April 27       
“No Longer Hidden: Blacks of Early Kittery and Berwick, Maine” by Patricia Wall
Patricia Wall, author of Beyond Freedom and Child Out of Place, will share her research findings and the difficulties and pitfalls she faced in preparation for writing her soon to be published book on Blacks of Early Kittery and Berwick, Maine