Identity: A Black History Webinar Series

Throughout February and March, scholars from around the United States are sharing their research on Black history with the ISU community.

Co-sponsored by the ISU Department of History and the ISU Cultural Events Committee, this spring's "Identity: A Black History Webinar Series," features online presentations by historians and archivists from across the country.

“This speaker series is designed to give our campus and community an opportunity to hear from some of the most exciting young scholars in the field,” said Dr. Marie Stango, who organized the series. “Each of the speakers’ work places Black activism and agency at the center of their research,” she said.

In February, Dr. Alaina Roberts spoke about the history of Black slave-owning among the Five Tribes (the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole Nations). Dr. Tyler Parry presented on the matrimonial act of "jumping the broom" and the complex, interconnected history that links the cultures of peoples of African and European descent throughout the Atlantic world.

On March 11, Tarienne Mitchell will speak about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Black pioneers who belonged to the church. On March 25, Dr. Ava Purkiss will discuss how Black women augmented their public health campaigns by integrating physical exercise into their health activism in the early twentieth century.

“I specifically chose scholars who could speak to topics that were relevant to our community, including Dr. Roberts on the intersections of Black and Indigenous History, and Ms. Mitchell on early Black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Stango said. “We've had an amazing response thus far: over 80 people attended the first talk,” she said.

The webinars are free to attend and are open to everyone. To register online, see the ISU History department website: https://www.isu.edu/history/