Wilkes University Recognizes Black History Month With Lectures and Events

Wilkes University Recognizes Black History Month With Lectures and Events

Wilkes University will celebrate Black History Month with a variety of lectures and events.

Pan-African Flag Raising and Coffee Hour

Tuesday, Feb. 3 from 11:00 a.m. to noon outside the E.S. Farley Library

Join the Office of Diversity Initiatives, E.S. Farley Library, and Black Student Union for a Pan African Flag Raising honoring Black History Month. The event begins at 11:00 a.m. with the flag-raising, followed by a brief program and a coffee hour for students, faculty and staff.

Africana Studies Film Screening: Judas and the Black Messiah

Tuesday, Feb. 3 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the Jean and Paul Adams Commons

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to enjoy pizza, popcorn, and a special screening of Judas and the Black Messiah-the powerful story of Fred Hampton, leader of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and the betrayal that led to his assassination. This 2021 Academy-Award winning film-starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield-brings to life Hampton's fight for justice, unity, and equality, and the official efforts to silence him. It's a story of courage, conviction, and the price of resistance. The event, presented by the Africana Studies program, will open with a brief introduction to Hampton's life and work, highlighting his leadership, vision, and lasting impact on movements for social justice.

The Sixth Annual Douglass Day Transcribe-a-thon

Friday, Feb. 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the E.S. Farley Library

Members of the Wilkes community take an active role in preserving Black history during the nationwide transcribe-a-thon. This year's event, which honors both Frederick Douglass Day and Black History Month, invites participants to transcribe the papers of prominent African-American scholars. No prior transcription experience is necessary and participants can stop by and leave at any time during these hours. Presented by the Office of Diversity Initiatives in collaboration with the E.S. Farley Library and Division of Global Cultures.

Black Owned Business Pop-Up Shop

Thursday, Feb. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Henry Student Center

As part of Black History Month programming, the Multicultural Student Coalition invites students, faculty and staff to attend a Black Owned Business Pop-Up Shop. This event highlights economic empowerment by featuring Black-owned businesses and providing an opportunity for attendees to engage with local entrepreneurs and support their work.

Africana Studies Lecture: Dr. Scott Hancock

Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6:00 p.m. in the Jean and Paul Adams Commons

Members of the Wilkes community are invited to a free lecture presented by Dr. Scott Hancock, associate professor of history and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College. After spending 14 years working with teenagers in crisis, he switched careers and earned a Ph.D. in Early American History in 1999. Both careers fuel his desire to understand how African Americans have shaped and been shaped by American law and memory, and motivate him to tell the stories of people whom society and history have discounted as troublesome or unimportant. He is currently exploring how places like the Gettysburg battlefield can put African Americans and slavery back into the heart of stories told by landscapes and memorials. Some of his scholarly work has appeared in scholarly journals and anthologies, such as The Civil War and the Summer of 2020, They Are Dead and Yet Live, and his book Walk Up The Hill: A College Student's Guide to Scholar Activism. As part of trying to be a scholar activist, he has also written for public audiences in local, regional and national publications, and welcomes engaging with people in a variety of forums, including talking with visitors to the Gettysburg battlefield.

Farley Library Celebrates Black History Month

Feb. 1 - 28, E.S. Farley Library

Farley Library celebrates Black History Month with a featured book display including The Grandfather of Black Basketball and Twelve Years a Slave. Additional books, novels, and poetry are available on the Library's Diverse Reading Libguide under African-American History.

Wilkes University Archives Celebrates William Crowder

Wilkes University Archives is excited to celebrate Black History Month by honoring Wilkes College's first African American graduate, William Crowder. William's tenure at Wilkes was marked by numerous musical contributions and achievements. From his involvement in theatrical and musical productions to his leadership and participation in student activities, it was evident that William made a lasting impact on our institution. In addition, his music composition of Man Against the Sky has been digitized and made available on our Omeka Digital Repository for listening. His legacy is highlighted in a blog post by Ella Villani, a junior musical theatre major with a minor in dance, who has been adding new materials that were found in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center in summer 2025 to the Theater Collection.