SF African American Historical Society’s annual Black History Month program

by Eldoris Cameron

The San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society will launch the 2016 annual Black History Month kickoff in the Rotunda at City Hall on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, at 12 noon followed by a reception in the South Light Court.

JohnTempleton-300x276, SF African American Historical Society’s annual Black History Month program, Culture Currents
John Templeton

John William Templeton, Oxford University Press historian, will address the national theme, “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories.” Templeton’s remarks will focus on “hallowed grounds” in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He is author of “Our Roots Run Deep: The Black Experience in California,” Vols. 1-4, and creator of the California African-American Freedom Trail. Special guests and City’s official family are expected to join an audience of more than 300.

The Society’s Black History Month lineup of events will include:

  • Conversation and slide show with Lewis Watts, co-author of “Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era.” Mr. Watts is currently exhibiting photographs from New Orleans at the Richmond Art Center, is author of the book, “New Orleans Suite: Music and Culture in Transition,” and is emeritus professor at UC Santa Cruz. The event is Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 762 Fulton St., second floor, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
  • Wesley Johnson, the Texas Tornado with John William Templeton, 762 Fulton St., second floor, Saturday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m., the program followed by a reception. Co-sponsors are SFAAHCA and the African American Art and Culture Complex.
  • Pilgrimage to Mary Ellen Pleasant Burial Site, Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, on Saturday, Feb. 27, 1:00-5:30 p.m. In 1965, the Society dedicated and inscribed on the tombstone of Mary Ellen Pleasant, “Mother of Civil Rights in California. She was a friend of John Brown.”
Lewis-Watts-300x300, SF African American Historical Society’s annual Black History Month program, Culture Currents
Lewis Watts

Harlem-of-the-West-cover-300x232, SF African American Historical Society’s annual Black History Month program, Culture Currents Founded in 1955, the Society is the oldest Bay Area institution that is dedicated to documenting, preserving and presenting true accounts of the contributions people of African descent have made to San Francisco and the Bay Area. The Society’s gallery and library are located in the African American Art and Culture Complex at 762 Fulton St. in San Francisco. All events are free to the public.

To learn more, contact SFAAHCS President Al Williams at awilliams@sfaahcs.org.

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