Black History Month on CET

Also, organizations throughout the Cincinnati and Dayton areas are hosting special events to celebrate. Here is a short list of some of those events and gatherings.

Black History Month for Teens
Saturday, Feb. 1, all day
Dayton Metro Library – Trotwood Branch: 937-496-8958
Teens will learn little known facts about African American history.

Black History Month 2013 Series: Pulling Ancestors from the Shadows – How to Pick Apart a Death Notice and Obituary
Saturday, Feb. 2, at 2pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Main Branch: 513-369-6900
Thomas D. Jordan, the co-host of New Day, a community affairs television program on WCPO Channel 9, will share his techniques on how to maximize clues found in newspaper death notices, obituaries and the funeral program biographies.

Celebrating Black History with the Dayton Metro Library
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2pm – 4pm
Dayton Metro Library – Madden Hills Branch: 937-496-8942
Enjoy a Black History Month celebration for the entire family.

Mercy Health, Catholic Health Partners Celebrate Black History Month
Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 5:30pm
Sharonville Convention Center: 513-95-MERCY
Both organizations will honor the month-long celebration by sponsoring a very special event for the community featuring NBA legend and top businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson as well as heavy hor d’oeuvres and music by 2nd Wind.

Sinclair Community College Theatre presents Intimate Apparel
Feb. 7 through Feb. 10
Blair Hall Theatre at Sinclair Community College: 937-512-2808
Intimate Apparel, a play by Lynn Nottage, is a portrait of an African-American woman living in Lower Manhattan in 1905 striving to become independent as a seamstress. It was an era when the cut and color of one’s dress – and of course, skin – determined your profession, friends and lifestyle options.

Black History Month 2013 Series: Pulling Ancestors from the Shadows – African American Research: From Slavery to Freedom
Part 1: Saturday, Feb. 9, at 11am
Part 2: Saturday, Feb. 9, at 2pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Main Branch: 513-369-6900
Dr. Deborah A. Abbott demonstrates the importance of researching ancestors through extended family members, friends and community. Learn principles, techniques and strategies to increase the chances of locating a long lost ancestor, and how tracing records of others can lead to your ancestor.

Diversity of Comics – Peanuts’ Franklin
Saturday, Feb. 9, at 2pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Main Branch: 513-369-6900
Enthusiast William Bell traces the dynamic journey of Franklin from the Peanuts comic strip and discusses why Franklin’s introduction was so ground-breaking.

Dayton Authors Celebrate Black History Month
Friday, Feb. 10, at 5pm
The Meeting Place: 888-802-1802
Dayton Authors Celebrate Black History Month at The Meeting Place.

Celebrate Black History Month at Dayton View
Monday, Feb. 11, all day
Dayton Metro Library – Dayton View Branch: 937-496-8926
Do a fun sheet, earn a reward and learn facts about African American history. This program is designed for kids ages 5 through 12.

Books Alive! For Kids
Monday, Feb. 11, at 6:30pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Forest Park Branch: 513-369-4478
Celebrate Black History Month with a take-home craft and a reading of the book “What A Wonderful World: The Life of Louie Armstrong” written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele and illustrated by Ashley Bryan.

University of Dayton Speaker Series: Michelle Alexander, Ph. D
Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7:30pm
Michelle Alexander is the New York Times' best-selling author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”

Alzheimer’s Association’s Black History Month Community Partnership Program: Staying Safe – Aging in place for African American Seniors
Wednesday, Feb. 13, at 8:30am
Evanston Recreation Center: 513-721-4284
A free day of information and education that addresses staying safe while aging in place for African American seniors. Staying Safe will address topics such as living health, home safety, safe driving, wandering, Medicare fraud, elder abuse, crime prevention, disaster preparedness, fire safety and more.

For Teens Only! Voice in the Village
Saturday, Feb. 16, at 2pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Mariemont Branch: 513-369-4467
Local artist Michael Oludare shares his gift for storytelling and his talent for African drumming.

“Reflections of Blackness” featuring the artwork of Kadir Nelson
Saturday, Feb. 23, with a reading and book signing from 1pm to 3pm followed by a Kadir Nelson lecture at 7pm.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Black History Month 2013 Series: Pulling Ancestors from the Shadows – Search for Descendants of African American Civil War Soldiers: Giving a Narrative to Cincinnati’s Forgotten Heroes”
Saturday, Feb. 23, at 2pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Main Branch: 513-369-6900
Join a panel discussion with Reverend Mendle Adams, librarians, and researcher, Dr. John Bryant, as they share the road blocks they encountered and breakthroughs they made researching seven African American Civil War soldiers buried in unmarked graves in Wesleyan Cemetery.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company: Traces
Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7:30pm
Dayton Masonic Center: 937-228-DCDC(3232)
Traces not only means a re-tracing of the past but also a tracing of the present, adding layers of artistry like a retrieved echo that keeps sounding into the future. For February’s Black History Month, Traces also refers to the African-American lineage of artistic expression, ever alive, ever renewed.

An Evening with Dr. Leon Bass
Tuesday, February 26, 6 pm
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Join The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for an evening with Dr. Leon Bass, who will talk about his experiences as a WWII soldier in a segregated army battalion. After liberating the Buchenwald concentration camp, he became active in the struggle for equality and human rights for all.

Free and open to the public, RSVPs requested at 513-487-3055 or kmorris@holocaustandhumanity.org

Honoring the Black Brigade: The Story of our Gallant Civil War Defenders
Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 6pm
Cincinnati Hamilton County Public Library – Deer Park Branch: 513-369-4450
When Cincinnati was gripped by fear that an advancing Confederate force would invade the city, thousands of men – including many African Americans – were called to defend the border. These African American men, called “The Black Brigade of Cincinnati,” were among the first to serve for the Union during the Civil War.

Cincinnati Public Radio – WGUC and WXVU – also will be celebrating Black History Month with a variety of programs and guests. Check out www.wguc.org/content/bhm.asp for more information.

Ongoing Opportunities:
Take the day to tour the exhibits at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. While the exhibits focus mainly on slavery in the past and today, much of the information is entrenched in black history in America. For more information, visit www.freedomcenter.org or call 513-333-7500.

Visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe House at 2950 Gilbert Ave. in Walnut Hills. Hours are 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Thursday. For more information, call (513)632-5120. Admission is free, but tours and school groups of more than 10 people may be asked to make a contribution depending on the size and scheduling of the visit.

Participate in Camp Campbell Gard’s “Living History” program. The YMCA camp is located at 4803 Augspurger Road in Hamilton. For more information, call (877)224-9622.

Visit the William L. Mallory Sr. Gallery at the Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western Ave. Hours are 1pm to 5pm. For more information, call (513)345-2744. This particular gallery, located downstairs, is free to visit.

Stop by the John P. Parker House at 330 North Front Street in Ripley, Ohio. The house is open for tours from 10am to 5pm Fridays and Saturdays and from 1pm to 5pm Sundays. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for students. Children are free. For more information, call (937)392-392-4188

Take the Clermont County Freedom Trail. The trail is a walking/driving tour and the brochure can be downloaded online at www.visitclermontohio.com. The 33 site tour includes the Rev. George C. Light Home, the New Richmond Waterfront, the Philanthropist Newspaper, Cranston Memorial Presbyterian Church, Lindale Baptist Church and Cemetery, Fee Villa and more. For more information, call the Clermont County Ohio Visitors Bureau at (513)732-3600.

Do you have an event or program you’d like to include on this list? Email the information to kmay@cetconnect.org.