Black History Month 2021: School Assemblies, Part 2

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History has set the 2021 Black History Month theme as The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. In going through the school’s collection, I thought it would be interesting to share four of the Lower School assemblies, as they each present information about African American culture and history to the school family. The videos will be featured each Friday, with more of an explanation of the event.

February 5: The McIntosh County Shouters at the 1999 Black History Month Special Assembly, held in the Hamilton Room of Love Hall on February 5, 1999.

February 12: Ms. Christine King Farris reads aloud from her book, My Brother Martin, and shares stories of her childhood on Friday, February 11, 2005, as the guest speaker during the 2005 Black History Month programs.

February 19: The Young Audiences Arts for Learning organization performed “Bridges That Brought Us Together and Across” on February 27, 2001 as part of the Black History Month programs that year.

February 26: We will finish out the month with the first grade performance of the Class of 2007 on February 28, 1996. It was a devotional to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The first grade teachers were Mrs. Boggs and Ms. Ownings. The video also highlights a program performed by the newly formed Diversity Awareness Club.

My Brother Martin

Mrs. Christine King Farris visited the Lower School on Friday, February 11, during the celebrations of Black History Month in 2005. Mrs. Farris is the older sister of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. She read from her then upcoming book My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which was published in 2006.

Mrs. Farris, who taught at Spelman College for 48 years, wrote and published her autobiography entitled Through It All: Reflections on My Life, My Family, and My Faith, in 2010.

In addition, she visited some of the sixth grade classes (Class of 2011) to share her book, to describe her childhood days growing up with Martin, and she to answer students’ questions. Mrs. Kathy McClelland, the middle school librarian, introduced Mrs. Farris to the students and facilitated the discussions, held in the George W. Woodruff Library.

Mrs. Kathy McClelland introducing Mrs. Christine King Farris, February 11, 2005

Further resources

• Christine King Farris: CSPAN Network Videos
• Farris, Christine King: Civil Rights Digital Library (Digital Library of Georgia)
• Farris, (Willie) Christine King: Stanford University: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
• Founders Day Honoree Christine King Farris Embodies the Dream