Invitation (free, public event)

The Division of United States Studies (Phillipa Strum, director) and History and Public Policy Program (Christian Ostermann, director) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the African American Studies Department at the University of Maryland-College Park,and the African American Resource Center at Howard Universityare pleased to invite you to a discussion of

Art in Crisis: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Struggle for African American Identity and Memory

with author Amy Helene Kirschke, Associate Professor of Art History, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

and commentators

Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Deputy Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and

Dolan Hubbard, Chair and Professor, Department of English and Language Arts, Morgan State University.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 3:30-5:00 p.m. Conference Room, 5th floor
Woodrow Wilson Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20004 - 3027

The Crisis was an integral element of the struggle to combat racism in the United States. W. E. B. Du Bois, its editor from its inception in 1910 through 1934, used the journal as a means of racial uplift, celebrating the joys and hopes of African American culture and life, and as a tool to address the injustices black Americans experienced the sorrows of persistent discrimination and racial terror in general and lynching in particular. Visual imagery was central to bringing his message to the homes of readers and emphasizing the importance of the cause; art was integral to his political program.

Prof. Amy Helene Kirschke will discuss the way in which Du Bois created a visual vocabulary to define a new collective memory and historical identity for African Americans.

Directions are available at our web site at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/directions Please allow extra time for security; a picture ID is required.This is a free public event, but RSVPs are required. Please respond with acceptances only to usstudies@wilsoncenter.org.