Newsletter: Calls for Proposals, Medgar Evers Talk, Internship Opportunities, Traveling Exhibit, and more
Your weekly newsletter for events and other exciting news from the Margaret Walker Center!
2025 CASE Festival Call for Proposals
The Margaret Walker Center invites proposals for papers, presentations, and panels for the 19th Annual Creative Arts & Scholarly Engagement (CASE) Festival, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 4 & 5, 2025. The CASE Festival will feature a keynote address by Natasha Trethewey, a Mississippian, former U.S. Poet Laureate, and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
The 2025 CASE Festival will highlight the life and legacy of Emmett Till and will open with a plenary conversation featuring the staff of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. While the focus will be on the 70th anniversary of Till’s tragic death, the organizers welcome proposals from high school, undergraduate, and graduate students on any topic.
Proposals must be submitted by Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Read the full call for proposals on our website. Contact mwa@jsums.edu for questions or to submit your proposal. OR, you may submit your proposal using this Google Form.
Mississippi Sugar: Black Queer Pasts, Presents, & Futures in the Deep South
Join us at the COFO Civil Rights Education Center on Wednesday, February 19, at 2:00 p.m. as we partner with the Invisible Histories Project for an in-person presentation focusing on LGBTQ+ Black History in Mississippi. Anastasia Taylor (Margaret Walker Center, HCAC Director of Digital and Community Engagement) and Margaret Lawson (Invisible Histories, Director of Programming and Outreach) will co-lead a conversation about the rich history of LGBTQ activism, art, and culture in the state. They’ll also guide the audience in a letter writing exercise focused on capturing the present and imagining Black Queer futures in the Deep South.
“A Decade of Action” Traveling Exhibit
The Margaret Walker Center's moving and insightful traveling exhibit, "A Decade of Action," is now available for viewing at the McLendon Library at Hinds Community College in Raymond, MS. This exhibit explores the civil rights movement on John R. Lynch Street in Jackson, tracing the story from 1961 to the 1970 Gibbs-Green tragedy at Jackson State University, when a police shooting claimed two lives. City police and highway patrol appeared on campus and opened fire shortly after midnight, claiming it was in response to supposed gunshots. Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, a 21-year-old Jackson State College student, and James Earl Green, a 17-year-old Jim Hill High School senior, were both killed.
In addition, don't miss a special talk by Margaret Walker Center Director Robert Luckett as he reflects on the Gibbs-Green tragedy on February 20, 2025, in the McLendon Library at 2:00 p.m.
Conservation of Photographs Workshop: Johnson Publishing Company
Students, are you interested in an all-expense paid (plus $850 stipend) scholarship and experiential learning opportunity? Open to HBCU students at sophomore through graduate levels, the Johnson Publishing Company Archive: Jet/Ebony Magazine Photography Conservation Workshop seeks to enhance the conservation profession by introducing its principles to underrepresented communities while engaging with the Johnson Publishing Company Archive (Ebony/Jet Magazine historic photos). The workshop will take place from July 8-12, 2025, at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Other eligibility requirements: Students should be interested in a career in conservation or a similar field. There will be extra consideration for courses completed in history, art history, visual culture, chemistry, or studio art.
EXTENDED APPLICATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21st, 2025. APPLY HERE. Award notifications will be announced in March.
Freedom Trail Marker Unveiling: Annie Devine
A new Freedom Trail Marker is being unveiled on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in Canton, MS. This marker is in honor of Annie Devine, a civil rights activist and schoolteacher; her projects and accomplishments include participating in voting rights efforts, organizing Canton’s first Freedom Day, helping found the MS Freedom Democratic Party, and becoming one of the first three Black women to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington. The marker will be placed on the west side of the Madison County Courthouse grounds, with a reception to follow inside Canton High School. Annie Devine’s daughter, Minister Barbara Devine Reed, will be a special guest speaker.
Black History Month Gallery Talk at IMMC
The International Museum of Muslim Cultures (IMMC) in Jackson is hosting a gallery talk on Thursday, February 27th, at 6:00 p.m. in the IMMC Atrium of the Mississippi Art Center, Downtown Jackson. The title of the talk is “From the Lowlands of Mississippi to the Highlands of Ethiopia: William Leo Hansberry and the Birth of African Studies.” William Leo Hansberry was a distinguished historian and archaeologist who made significant contributions to the field of African studies. Originally from Gloster, MS, located about two hours south of Jackson, Hansberry's legacy continues through the research association named in his honor.
A Centennial Conversation: The Legacy of Medgar Evers
Don’t miss “A Centennial Conversation: The Legacy of Medgar Evers, 100 Years Later,” a talk featuring Dr. Miranda Freeman, Dean of Humanities at Tougaloo College, and Dr. Michael V. Williams, Chair of the African American Studies Department at the University of Tennessee. The event will take place at the Smith Robertson Museum on February 27, with a 5:30 p.m. reception followed by the program from 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Oral History Association 2025 Call for Papers
Inspired by the upcoming semi-quincentennial commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the 2025 Oral History Association Annual Meeting will convene a variety of shared experiences that ask and answer the question: What is America? The Program Committee welcomes panel and presentation ideas that offer broad, creative interpretations of this conference theme. View this page for more info about the 2025 Call for Proposals.
Ready to submit a proposal? The portal is now live and will accept submissions until February 21, 2025. For questions, contact Conference Co-Chair Alissa Rae Funderburk at annualmeeting@oralhistory.org or the OHA Executive Office at oha@oralhistory.org.
Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation
Are you interested in preserving art and cultural heritage? Learn about conservation with this exciting upcoming summer program! The Andrew W. Mellon Opportunity for Diversity in Conservation introduces students and recent graduates from historically underrepresented communities to cultural heritage conservation, a field that engages with artistic and scientific understanding of materials and their meanings to preserve human expressions.
Program includes:
A weeklong summer workshop in Los Angeles hosted at UCLA
Transportation to and around L.A., shared housing at UCLA, all meals during the week
Eligibility for a 10-week paid conservation internship in 2026 (by application, after successful completion of the 2025 workshop)
Virtual Info Sessions: February 20th, 12-1 pm Pacific and 24th, 12- 1 pm Pacific
Applications are due Friday, March 7, 2025 at 5 p.m. PST. Learn more by visiting this site.
Yale EHS Student Internship Opportunities
Attention undergraduate and graduate students! Do you have a background in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM)? Are you interested in examining the field of environmental health and safety as a potential career option? Yale Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is partnering with nine HBCUs that are part of the Yale ASCEND program to offer two summer internships in occupational and environmental health and safety. These internships provide a 10 week immersive opportunity to learn more about these fields, are paid, include room and board over the summer, and offer hands-on experience with Yale EHS experts. More information about the 2025 EHS Summer Internship program can be found at this site.
Contact Us
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