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Press RoomFebruary 8 Lecture at the MSV to Highlight Harpers Ferry’s Storer CollegeLecture, Café Dinner Menu, Wine, and $5 Admission to Highlight the Night
Winchester, VA 02/04/13…An illustrated program about one of the nation’s first colleges for African Americans will highlight the Friday, February 8, Galleries at Night event at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV). Presented at 7 p.m. by author and Shepherd University Professor Dawne Raines Burke, PhD, the lecture will detail the founding of Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
For Galleries at Night, the Museum will be open from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Along with the 7 p.m. lecture, the evening will also offer visitors the opportunity to tour the Museum galleries and enjoy dinner in the Museum Café. In her MSV presentation, “Sheridan’s Valley Missionaries: The Back Story,” Burke will tell the story of the Christian Commission missionaries who came down the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War and their subsequent founding of Storer College. According to Burke, the school was one of the nation's first examples of community-building in the post-war south and was West Virginia’s first normal school, or teachers’ college, to which persons of color were admitted. Prominent Storer graduates include John Robert “J. R.“ Clifford, the first African-American attorney in West Virginia and founding member of the Niagara Movement; Don "The Little Giant of Jazz" Redman, an internationally known musician and composer; Ella Phillips Stewart, one of the first African American female pharmacists in the United States; Dr. Houston G. Brooks Jr., who commanded a million-dollar research project as a graduate student at Tuskegee University in Alabama and would eventually have several medical patents to his credit; and Dr. Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe, who would eventually return to his native African continent and become the first elected President of the Republic of Nigeria.
Following her lecture, Dr. Burke will sign copies of her book An American Phoenix: A History of Storer College from Slavery to Desegregation, 1865–1955. The 150-page book will be available in the Museum Store for $35.
Also on Friday night, wine and beer will be available for purchase in the Museum lobby for $5 a glass, the galleries will be open for tours, and from 5 to 8:30 p.m. the Museum Café will offer a special Galleries at Night dinner menu. The evening’s selections will include catfish stew served with a side green salad and a biscuit ($9.95), southern fried chicken served with collard greens and grits casserole and a biscuit ($10.95), and pork barbeque served with collard greens and grits casserole and a biscuit ($10.95). All meal prices include a soda or iced tea. The evening’s dessert selections include banana pudding ($2), red velvet cupcakes ($2 each), and sugar cookies (three for $2).
Admission to Galleries at Night, which includes the lecture, is free to MSV Members and youth ages 12 and under. Admission is just $5 for all others. Those interested in attending Friday night’s lecture are encouraged to arrive early; seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Lecture tickets will be available at the Visitor Information Desk beginning at 4 p.m.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia. The MSV complex—which includes galleries, the Glen Burnie House, and six acres of gardens—is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Museum galleries are open year-round; the gardens are open April through October. The Glen Burnie House is now closed until 2014 for a preservation project. Daytime admission—which includes access to the gardens and the galleries—is $10 or $8 for seniors and youth ages 13 to 18. The Museum is always free to youth ages 12 and under and to MSV Members, and it is free to all every Wednesday from 10 a.m. until noon. Additional information is available at www.theMSV.org or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235. –END–
Julie B. Armel
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