This February, the Main Library is hosting a series of events that spotlight the many African Americans who answered the call to serve and to improve the conditions of our local community. All events take place at 2 p.m. in the third floor Genealogy & Local History event space.
- Saturday, Feb. 2 — African Americans in Medicine
Join Dr. Charles Dillard, a longtime Walnut Hills resident who followed his father into medicine, as he discusses African-Americans in medicine in the Cincinnati area, past and present.
- Saturday, Feb. 16 — African American Funeral Directors
Independent, black-owned funeral homes gave the deceased the respect that was not always shown to them in life. Join Joyce Coleman and Thomas Jordan, of the African American Genealogy Group of the Miami Valley, for a talk about these funeral directors.
- Saturday, Feb. 23 — Law and Order: African Americans in Law Enforcement
Attend a panel discussion about the role that African Americans played in keeping law and order. Panelists include Judge John Andrews West, former assistant Chief of Police Michael Cureton, and others who are sharing their experiences of serving the Cincinnati community.
Another event of interest is the talk “Rediscovering 19th Century African American Society” by Stephen Headley, librarian from the Genealogy & Local History Department, at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 2. Headley will talk about the discovery of weekly newspaper columns from the late 19th-century dedicated to reporting on the social affairs of the city’s African Americans. The columns are a glimpse into the political, social and cultural events of a community. They also serve as a record of church, civic, fraternal organizations, and businesses of leading African Americans of the time. These reports are available by visiting Cinlib.org/AfricanAmericanColumns.
All these events are free and open to the public. Learn more about all these events by visiting CincinnatiLibrary.org or by calling 513-369-6905.
