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“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” 

– Ralph Ellison

“Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to ‘jump at the sun.’ We might not land at the sun at least we would get off the ground.”

– Zora Neale Hurston 

“The blues is not the creation of a crushed-spirited people. It is the product of a forward-looking, upward-striving people.”

– Albert Murray

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Sponsored Events

Literary Legacies Symposium, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Lawrence Jackson (May 6, 2021, 11:00AM-7:00PM)

The Literary Legacies Symposium, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Lawrence Jackson (Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of English & History, Johns Hopkins University), will be held Thursday May 6, 2021, 11:00AM-7:00 PM (Central). The symposium will be held virtually on Zoom. The keynote will be from 6:00PM-7:00PM (Central).

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

For more information, please contact aankumah@ tuskegee.edu | 334.727.8100

Sponsored by the NEH’s Literary Legacies of Macon County & Tuskegee Institute: Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph W. Ellison, Albert Murray grant

On Being American, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray: Virtual Teachers’ Workshop (April 12, 2021)

This workshop has been designed for K-12 educators who seek to include the literature of Alabama Hall of Fame writers Ralph W. Ellison and Albert Murray into their curriculum. Lesson plans and best practices will be a part of this interactive workshop that will also explore music, history and geography associated with selected literary works. Participants will also screen excerpts of a new documentary on AfricaTown, located in southern Alabama. Participants will receive books and $125.

24th Annual Ralph Ellison Lecture, featuring Dr. Adam Bradley (March 30, 2021)

The 24th Annual Ralph Ellison Lecture, featuring literary critic & scholar Dr. Adam Bradley, author of The Poetry of Pop.

• Where: Zoom (Virtual)
• When: Tuesday, March 30, 2021 3:00 PM-4:30 PM

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Community Reading of Ralph Ellison’s “Flying Home” (March 29, 2021)

Join Us for a Community Reading of Ralph Ellison’s “Flying Home.” This short story is available online as a PDF. Todd, an injured Tuskegee Airman, is found in a field by Jefferson, a Black share-cropper, and his son, who are determined to save the young pilot’s life.

* Ralph W. Ellison, TU Alumnus, 2020 Alabama Writers’ Hall of Fame Inductee

• Where: Zoom (Virtual)
• When: Monday, March 29, 2021, 4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Reading with Discussion/Q&A)

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Quilting Workshop with Ms. Jan Hollins at the Legacy Museum, Tuskegee University (September 14, 2019)

Ms. Jan Hollins, an award-winning quilter, will lead a Quilting Workshop at the Legacy Museum to celebrate the closing of the Soul of Zora Quilting Exhibition brought to Tuskegee University through the Literary Legacies of Macon County and Tuskegee Institute: Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph W. Ellison, Albert Murray National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Funding for this event comes from the generous support of the Alabama Bicentennial Committee. Quilters and non-quilters are invited to join us from 10 am-3:00 pm. Kits and irons are provided. Sewing machines are welcome. The workshop is free but space is limited. (*Featured Quilt —“Hands of Gold”)

Letters from Zora: In Her Own Words, with Gabrielle Denise Pina (May 22, 2019)

Join Us for a Special Screening of Letters from Zora: In Her Own Words followed by a conversation with award-winning playwright Gabrielle Denise Pina.

• Where: The Legacy Museum, Tuskegee University
• When: Wednesday, May 22, 2019, 1:00-3:00pm

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The Soul of Zora: A Literary Legacy through Quilts Exhibition (March 14, 2019)

“The Soul of Zora: A Literary Legacy through Quilts Exhibition”, featuring nine quilts inspired by inaugural Alabama Writers Hall of Fame member Zora Neale Hurston, will open with a reception at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, 2019, at Tuskegee University’s Legacy Museum. The exhibit, co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Alabama Bicentennial Committee, marks the official start of activities. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Tuskegee University’s College of Arts and Science have also provided support for the exhibit which is free and open to the public.

Poster: Literary Legacies of Macon County and Tuskegee Institute: Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and Albert Murray (2019)

Few places can lay claim to three literary artists who were instrumental in the Harlem Renaissance, Modernism, and cultural theory, all pivotal movements in American literature.  However, Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama, can make this claim. Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray all have ties to this region. In fact, the geographic location of the South is significant in all their works as a contested space to consider race, identity, and home….

The two-year project will include the following activities:   (1) Digital humanities portal (see below) which will include a variety of resources, such as archival documents, teaching materials, and student projects on the three authors.  This work will be done with the help of our library faculty, consultants, and student worker;  (2) Curriculum enrichment of existing English and History courses and the development of a new humanities course, HUMN 200; (3)  Student-faculty research projects intended to produce scholarly papers at the research symposium scheduled towards the end of the project; (4) Two faculty workshops on the three authors with consultants, followed by a half-day workshop on Ellison and Murray’s friendship for faculty participants and for area high school humanities teachers. Project Director and Co-Directors will lead workshop and provide course materials based on the enhanced course syllabi, lecture notes, and TU digital archives; and (5) Community engagement with the three authors through artistic renditions such as a quilt exhibit and jazz concert, and a symposium devoted to the three writers which will be opened to the public .