Portrayal of African-American Writer/Activist Set. Dec. 6  

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

African-American writer and activist Ida B. Wells will visit the West Virginia University at Parkersburg campus on Thursday, Dec. 6, in a portrayal by Brucella Wiggins Jordan, instructor at the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research in Morgantown.

The free program will be held at 7 p.m. in Room 1305 and is open to the public.

An anti-lynching crusader, Ms. Wells was a journalist active in the woman’s suffrage movement and a founding member of the NAACP. At a time when many women were kept in the home by the cultural doctrine of “separate spheres” for men and women, Ms. Wells traveled the country, writing on topics that reflected the conditions faced by African Americans at the end of Reconstruction and into the 20th century.

Ms. Jordan is actively involved with the preservation of African-American history, not only in her teaching and character portrayals but also as co-founder and curator of the African-American Heritage Family Tree Museum in Ansted, WV. 

The presentation is part of the West Virginia Humanities Council’s History Alive! Program and the college’s Humanities Division Speakers Series.  History Alive! uses the technique of historical characterization to allow audience members to encounter noteworthy historical characters.  To use the technique, humanities scholars carefully research the writings, speeches and biographies of the characters they portray and, whenever possible, use their original words.  These programs provide audiences with the opportunity to question the movers and shakers of the past.

WVU Parkersburg’s program is hosted by the campus Social Justice Committee and the Humanities Division Speakers Series with additional financial assistance from the Office of the Secretary, WV Department of Education and the Arts.

Additional information is available from Rebecca Phillips, associate professor of English, 424-8282.

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