The Departments of African American Studies and Social Work, along with the Multicultural Genealogical Center, and the United States Department of Agriculture—Forests Division—Wayne National Forest, are sponsoring a symposium on March 11th and 12th that will focus on the “African American Presence in the Ohio River Valley.

This symposium will kick off with the inaugural Alvin Adams Memorial Lecture that is to be presented by Professor Joe William Trotter, Jr., Mellon Professor of History and Head of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University, on Friday, March 11, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at the Baker Center Ballroom, Ohio University.The title for his lecture is "African American Life in the Urban Ohio Valley: Lessons and Perspectives for Research on the Rural Experience."

Professor Trotter has written about the African American presence in the Ohio River Valley and his presentation will set the tone for the weekend symposium on Saturday, March 12, 2005, that seeks to bring together researchers throughout the University and the community to develop research and creative projects that are related to African Americans living in the Ohio River Valley.

For further information on Dr. Joe William Trotter, Jr., please visit: http://www.hss.cmu.edu/departments/history/faculty/Joe_Trotter.html

This symposium is a response to a grant received by the Department of African American Studies from the United States Department of Agriculture to support and extend research projects that the Multicultural Genealogical Center and the Wayne National Forest have initiated on the Underground Railroad in southeastern Ohio.

This symposium will provide all interested parties with the opportunity to showcase the work that has already been done on the Underground Railroad in southeastern Ohio and help plan and organize the next phase of this research. It will also help us begin the oral history project of African American communities located near Ohio University’s regional campuses.

The organizers anticipate three plenary panels on Saturday. March 12, 2005. The projected panels are:

Panel #1: Current Research on the African American Presence in the Ohio River Valley. Baker Center Ballroom (10:00 a.m -
12:00 noon)

Panel # 2: Educational and Service Learning Opportunities on the African American Presence in the Ohio River Valley. Baker Center Ballroom (1:00 p.m - 2:30 p.m)

Panel #3: Designing an Oral History Research Project on the African American Presence in the Ohio River Valley. Baker Center Ballroom (3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

The deadline for submitting an abstract on current research or professional project has been extended to Friday, February 25, 2005.

We believe that this symposium has the potential to provide Ohio University faculty and members of the community with the opportunity to plan and identify some new and innovative directions for research on the rural communities of this important region that could have national implications. We also believe that this symposium can provide a forum in which collaborations can be developed between academic units to take advantage of the many opportunities to study history, social policy, promote service learning and student engagement in the community, and assist in development of future field placement sites.

Please circulate this information and encourage participation. Your usual support is appreciated.

Respectfully,

Vibert Cambridge, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of African American Studies

Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Social Work
Richard W. Greenlee, Ph.D.

February 23, 2005