Celebrate black history at Elgin library
Celebrate the heritage of African-Americans locally and globally at the third annual Black History Family Festival from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave. in Elgin.
Co-sponsored by the Elgin Human Relations Commission, the afternoon festival is free to the public. No registration or tickets are required.
The festival will feature storytelling, lectures and music; a marketplace with gifts for sale; digital storytelling to share what freedom means to you; local historians, authors and community groups; food tastings; and prize drawings
The program will start with "The Underground Railroad to Present Day Times" from 2:05 to 2:50 p.m. in the community rooms. Amber Washington will take young listeners on a historical journey from the Underground Railroad to the present day by using props, song, movement and audience participation.
"Tap! with Reggio 'The Hoofer' McLaughlin" will be from 3 to 3:45 p.m. in the community rooms. Reggio has performed on Broadway and television, narrating the history of tap through the sounds of his feet. Combining African foot stomping and Irish step dancing, His show consists of high-energy tap, the "old soft shoe" and audience participation in hoofing, a demonstration of this American art form.
The program, "Ruby Bridges and Other Stories," will be from 4 to 4:45 p.m. in the River Room. Storyteller Linda Gorham will tell some of her favorite folktales and the story of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, a black girl transferred to Franz Elementary School, a "white only" school in 1960 New Orleans. Her story helped change America's views on school segregation.
For more information about the festival, call the library at (847) 742-2411 or visit www.gailborden.info.
The Black History Family Festival marks the start of the four-month Tapestry of Freedom project that spotlights the faces, expressions and histories of freedom. This four-month endeavor promoting, respect and unity, includes celebrating black history, women's history, cultural diversity and preservation through compelling programs, videos and art.
Many of the displays, including historical artifacts, and local veteran's stories will debut at the Black History Family Festival. Tapestry culminates with the library hosting the National Endowment for the Humanities/American Library Association traveling exhibit "Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation," which will be at the library from April 17 to May 31, 2008. The library received a $63,820 grant from Illinois State Library for the Tapestry project.
Funding for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the federal Library Services and Technology Act.