CofC Faculty Explore Black Migrations at ASALH Conference

College of Charleston faculty are among the academics and historians attending the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH) 104th Annual Meeting and Conference taking place Oct. 2–6, 2019, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in North Charleston. The College is a co-sponsor of the event.

CofC President Andrew T. Hsu and Rénard Harris, associate vice president and chief diversity officer for the College, welcomed members of the association during an event at Towell Library on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019, ahead of the conference’s official kickoff Wednesday. Serving as presenters or commentators on roundtable and panel discussions, paper sessions and workshops at the conference are Bernard Powers, director for the College’s Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston; Adam Domby, history professor; Shannon Eaves, history professor; Aaisha Haykal, manager of archival services at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture; Mary Trent, art history instructor; Lisa Young, English professor; Daron Lee Calhoun II, facilities, outreach, and public programming coordinator for the Avery Research Center; Barry Stiefel, historic preservation professor; and Kameelah Martin, director of CofC’s African American Studies Program. Karen Chandler, director of CofC’s Arts Management Program, will serve as emcee of a luncheon event.

Kenneth Marolda, a graduate student in the College’s Master of Arts in Community, Policy, Planning, and Design program, will present research during a poster session, and the College of Charleston Gospel Choir will perform during the conference’s Ecumenical Breakfast on Sunday, Oct. 6.

The ASALH’s 2019 theme of “Black Migrations” emphasizes the movement of people of African descent to new destinations and subsequently to new social realities. Research and panels will focus on topics such as African American public history, Charleston’s role in the African Diaspora, and black agency. A roundtable discussion titled, “Avery: The Spirit That Would Not Die, 1865–2015,” will explore the Avery Research Center’s origins as the Avery Normal Institute, one of Charleston’s first secondary schools for emancipated slaves and free people of color.

Featured image: College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu and Bernard Powers, director of the College’s Center fo the Study of Slavery in Charleston – along with other faculty – hosted an event for members of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History at Towell Library on Tuesday, Oct. 1. (Photo by Louester “Lou” Robinson, Ed.D. ’77)