Museum of Mobile April Speaking Events

Mar 29th, 2010

In honor of Museum of Mobile’s monumental exhibition, George Washington Carver: An Extraordinary Man with a Mighty Vision, the Museum will be hosting several events to complement and enrich the exhibit’s overview of Carver’s life.

· Monday, April 5th, 12 P.M. – 1 P.M. Dr. Linda McMurry Edwards, Brown Bag with the Author. Carver biographer and African American historian will visit the museum for a brown bag luncheon.

· Friday, April 9th, 6 - 7:30 P.M. Linda Kenny Miller, An Evening with the Author. Granddaughter of Carver’s and Booker T. Washington’s person physician, will sign her biography of her grandfather’s life.

· Friday, April 16th, 6 – 7:30 P.M. Dr. Joe Leonard, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Agriculture and civil rights crusader will speak.

Linda McMurry Edwards earned her Ph.D. from Auburn University 1976 and taught African American history at North Carolina State University for 20 years. She has written several biographies of notable African Americans such as Ida B. Wells and Monroe Nathan Work. Edwards also co-authored a college-level American history textbook, America and Its Peoples: A Mosaic in the Making. Edwards’s book, George Washington Carver: Scientist and Symbol, written in 1981, is a “sensitive portrait” of Carver, a complex and extraordinary man overshadowed by very simple—and often unfactual—myths. This book is available for purchase at the Museum store. Since Edwards’s retirement, she has written a second biography of Carver for children, George Washington Carver: The Life of a Great American Agriculturist (2003), and enjoys speaking about Dr. Carver in her free time.

Linda Kenney Miller is a graduate of Fisk University with a B.A. in English. She taught English and Reading in the District of Columbia Public School System, while taking graduate courses at Howard University, where she published Realism in Black Poetry. Miller left teaching in 1975 to work as a medical administrator for her father, Howard W. Kenney, M.D., and remained in the field for over thirty years. Miller recently left the medical field to return to her roots as a writer.

Miller authored the award-winning book, Beacon on the Hill, a story packed with history and enjoyable stories about Tuskegee Institute. The book tells the captivating history of her grandfather, John A. Kenney, M.D., “pioneer Negro physician of the twentieth century” who, as the son of former slaves, raised himself up to become the personal physician to Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute. At the Museum, Miller will read excerpts from the book and talk about her research and relationship to the key characters. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served.

Dr. Joe Leonard, Jr. is a native of Austin, TX, and holds a Ph.D. in American history with a specialization in civil rights history from Howard University and a M.A. degree from Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA. Dr. Leonard is credited with ending the abuse suffered by minority farmers, which has marred the reputation of the USDA for many years. He was appointed to the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U. S. Department of Agriculture by President Obama in April of 2009.

Leonard derives his inspiration for the pursuit of civil rights from his great-great-great-grandfather, who fought at the Alamo and escaped from slavery. He also admires his father’s brave but unsuccessful attempt at running for County Judge in 1966, just seven years after being granted the right to vote.

The Museum of Mobile is located at 111 Royal Street. For more information on these speakers or the George Washington Carver exhibit, call 208-7569 or go to www.museumofmobile.com. The George Washington Carver exhibit was created by The Field Museum, Chicago, in collaboration with Tuskegee University and the National Park Service.