2023 Webinar Series
The National Civil Rights Museum hosts a webinar series for Black History Month 2023 to invite a wider audience to learn more about leaders and everyday citizens who contributed to the American Civil Rights Movement. Led by Dr. Noelle Trent, Director of Interpretation, Collections, and Education, Dory Lerner, Museum Educator K-12, and Ryan Jones, Associate Curator, the staff will lead virtual discussions to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Movement in 1963, the 55th anniversary of the Memphis Sanitation Strike, and the March on Washington. The series includes a discussion designed for younger learners (K-12) about the year 1963 and how children impacted the Movement.
webinars for GENERAL AUDIENCES
MLK55 and 1968 Sanitation Strike
with Dr. Noelle Trent and Ryan Jones
February 15, 2023 • 12:00 PM CENTRAL • via Zoom
February marks the 55th anniversary of the beginning of the Memphis Sanitation Strike. For years, Black sanitation workers in Memphis, TN endured poor treatment, discrimination, and inhumane working conditions. The spark that ignited the strike on February 12, 1968 involved the deaths of two sanitation workers who were crushed to death in a sanitation truck compactor. Over 1,000 workers went on strike seeking union recognition, dues checkoff, and negotiations. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was invited to join the march in support of striking workers. Join Dr. Noelle Trent, Director of Interpretation, Collections & Education, and Ryan Jones, Associate Curator, as they discuss the origins of the Sanitation Strike and Dr. King's final days in Memphis.
World War II, Double V & The March on Washington
with Dr. Noelle Trent
February 16, 2023 • 12:00 PM Central • via Zoom
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. The call for a march on Washington began during World War II under the leadership of civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph in 1941. As the United States entered the war in Europe, Randolph and other leaders advocated for the country to address injustices abroad and at home. The March on Washington of 1963 continued the strategies adopted in the campaign decades earlier. Join Dr. Noelle Trent as she explores the origins of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
The Whole World was Watching: Remembering 1963 in the Civil Rights Movement
with Ryan Jones
February 22 • 6:00 pm Central • via Zoom
Ryan Jones will present on numerous events during the Civil Rights Movement in the year 1963 as a 60-year commemoration. These events include the climatic Project C Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others desegregated the city with nonviolent demonstrations, the assassination of NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, and President John F. Kennedy’s commitment to passing a Civil Rights bill to legislation after his assassination on November 22, 1963.
webinar for Young AUDIENCES (k-12)
Honoring 1963: A Pivotal Year of Protests
with Dory Lerner
February 7 • via Zoom
10:00 Am Central for K - 5th Graders and
1:00 pm Central for 6th - 12th graders
February 21 • via Zoom
10:00 pm Central for 6th - 12th graders
1:00 pm Central for K - 5th graders
We will explore Birmingham, from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” to the Children’s Crusades, to the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church that tragically killed four little girls. By gaining a better understanding of these moments of triumphant resistance and horrific injustice, we will realize the significance of this city, as an epicenter of the American Civil Rights Movement. As we examine 1963, we will also share new ways to think about the March on Washington. We will reflect on the goals of this iconic protest and the organizers who led it. We will learn who were key contributors and why it was a climactic moment both in the Movement and in the history of the United States. We will uncover how Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech became the iconic speech that was heard ‘round the world.