Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 11-24-17

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Attend New Life Outreach Ministry, Inc. Banquet
Clark University Student From Tampa Researches Stories Behind Rare Turn-Of-The-Century Photos
WORCESTER, MASS. – Nia Slater- Bookhart, a junior at Clark University and resident of Tampa, researched “Old Home Days” and “Little Ladies,” two turn-of-the- century photos included in a unique photo ex- hibit about Worcester’s first community of color which is currently on display at the Worcester Art Museum.
Slater-Bookhart was one of 10 students enrolled in History Professor Janette Thomas Greenwood's Problems of Prac- tice seminar “Public History: Race, Photogra- phy and Community,” who helped uncover stories behind the photos taken by itinerant Worcester photographer William Bullard.
The images, included in the Worcester Art Museum’s exhibit, “Rediscovering an Ameri- can Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard,” are of Southern migrants, people of Native American descent, Black Yankee families and immigrants from the Caribbean who lived in Worcester’s Beaver Brook neighborhood between 1897 and 1917.
Students met with descendants of Bullard’s “sitters” to uncover stories that provide con- text for the images. They also gave oral pre- sentations about their research and posted essays about the photos online and blogs about their experience on the museum's web- site.
“As a woman of color, this project has a profound impact on me personally,” Slater- Bookhart wrote. “This project allowed me to understand why my grandmother held on to so many old photographs, and the importance of telling our family's history.”
Slater-Bookhart wrote that while re- searching both photographs, she hit many hurdles and got discouraged.
“Professor Greenwood helped me to understand when you are doing intense re- search, you may not always get all the an-
swers, but it is about the bigger picture that you are trying to present,” she wrote.
However, Slater-Bookhart was deter- mined.
“This is America's history and it should never be silenced,” she wrote.
Slater-Bookhart is a member of the Class of 2019; she is a history and self-de- signed double major. At Clark, she is a mem- ber of the improv comedy group the ‘Peapod Squad,’ and is a mentor and administrative co- ordinator for Clark’s All Kinds of Girls pro- gram.
Slater-Bookhart is a 2015 graduate of Freedom High School.
“Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard” is the first exhibition drawn from an archive of more than 5,400 glass negatives left behind by Bullard, a white photographer active in Worcester and across central Massachusetts at the turn of the century. The exhibit, which includes 80 prints made from Bullard’s glass negatives, is on display at the Worcester Art Museum through February 25, 2018.
NIA SLATER-BOOKHART
From left to right: Robert Kennedy, Larry Mitchell and Dr. Shan- dale Terrell were among the more than 300 who attended the ban- quet.
On Friday, November 3rd, more than 300 citizens attended and support- ed the 28th Annual New Life Outreach Ministry, Inc. Ban- quet.
The Keynote Speaker was Eddie Lake, Pastor of New Bethel AME Church, Lakeland. The Men’s Choir of New Bethel AME Church was also present and pro- vided musical entertainment.
The event was held at the Harvest Assembly of God
Church in Lakeland. The Theme for this year was “Touching The Lives Of The Least, The Last, And The Lost.”
New Life Outreach Min- istry, Inc., is the premiere fa- cility for the homeless in Lakeland. Contributions raised at the Banquet will be used to continue in minister- ing, “touching the lives of the least, the last, and the lost” homeless citizens in the com- munity.
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