ASALH to Host ‘African Americans in the Arts’ Conference

Dr. W. Marvin DulaneyThe Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is set to host its 109th Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh.

The Sept. 25-29 ASALH conference will feature a rich program of scholarly sessions, professional workshops, historical tours, a film festival, book signings, and many other events that illuminate the importance of the current struggle to own and control our own narrative.

“While we are in Pittsburgh we will work with and promote the local arts community, patronize local African American businesses, and offer teachers and other educators the opportunity for in-service learning on teaching the African American experience...this marks ASALH’s third time meeting in the city in the 21st century,” said ASALH President Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney.

The conference theme is “African Americans in the Arts.” It includes a plenary on “Place, Politics, and the Future of Black Pittsburgh History” on Sept. 26, a conversation about “Black artistic expression in and beyond our National Parks” on Sept. 27. A Sept. 28 plenary will examine how the arts have manifested in Hollywood and Black histories.

The conference will feature African American education leaders from Carlow University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Community College of Allegheny County, and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Dr. Kimberly C. Ellis, an Africana Studies Scholar and the maternal niece of award-winning playwright August Wilson, is set to present a keynote address Sept. 27 on Wilson’s life and plays. Dr. Sheila Y. Flemming, a former president of ASALH, is scheduled to moderate a panel Sept. 28. Registration for in-person attendance is open at the ASALH website: https://asalh.org/conference.