GEN-EVENTS-L Archives

From: "Scott Fitzgerald" <>
Subject: [GEN-EVENTS] African American Lives Program
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 08:21:06 -0600

In celebration of Black History Month, Tyler Public Library will host
screenings and discussions of "African-American Lives," a four-part PBS
series that uses genealogy, oral history, family stories and DNA Analysis to
trace lineage of African-Americans.

The episodes will be shown at 6:30 p.m. each Monday in February in the
library's Taylor Auditorium.

The series episodes are:

Feb. 5: "Listening to Our Past."
Feb. 12: "The Promises of Freedom."
Feb. 19: "Searching for Our Names."
Feb. 26: "Beyond the Middle Passage."

Rodney Atkins, access librarian, will host each one-hour episode and a
follow-up discussion with representatives from East Texas Genealogical
Society and Smith County Historical Society. The groups are co-sponsoring
the presentations.

Broadcast on PBS last year, series traces the family histories of Dr. Ben
Carson, Whoopi Goldberg, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Dr. Mae Jemison, Quincy Jones,
Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Chris Tucker and Oprah Winfrey.

For more information you may call (903) 593-7232.

Rev. Rodney Atkins is the author of a new two-volume book documenting the
history of blacks in Smith County. He compiled old newspaper articles,
photographs and school programs and countless interviews into a two-volume
set titled "Remember When We Were Colored in Tyler, Texas."

The first volume offers an overview of Smith County and include chapters
that touch on subjects such as "Success During Segregation," "Family
Values," "The Schools for Colored People in Tyler" and "The Challenges of
Closing Emmett Scott High School."

Volume II concentrates on telling stories of more than 200 blacks who either
broke racial barriers or succeeded in their professional or civic endeavors.
For information about how to obtain the book, call (903) 533-8968.

I am a member of the City of Tyler Historical Preservation Board. One of our
members, Dorothy Franks, nominated the site of the old Tyler Negro Library,
1400 W. Lollar St. It is now an official Tyler historical landmark. The
Tyler Negro Library was chartered in July 1941 and located in the basement
of Bethlehem Baptist Church. In 1949 the City authorized construction of a
building at Lollar Street using a building obtained from Camp Fannin. In
1961 the library was renamed the Ella Reid Public Library. The Library was
closed in 1968. The records were transferred to the Balch Institute Research
Library in Philadelphia for preservation as part of a national collection on
African-American history. The building was purchased in 1971 by the Gamma
Omicron Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Sorority, Tyler.

Submitted by Scott Fitzgerald
1st VP of East Texas Genealogical Society

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