History Center Hosts Civil Rights Panel

Media Contacts:
Ned Schano Brady Smith
412-454-6382 412-454-6459
nschano@heinzhistorycenter.org bmsmith@heinzhistorycenter.org

***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***MEDIA ALERT***

History Center to Host Civil Rights Panel
-Local civil rights experts Alma Fox, Ralph Proctor, and Sala Udin among featured panelists-

WHAT: Next Wed., Feb. 27, the Senator John Heinz History Center will host a special panel discussion on the Civil Rights Movement in conjunction with the History Center’s new exhibition, 1968: The Year That Rocked America, presented by UPMC Health Plan.

The “Civil Rights in Pittsburgh: Lessons from 1968” panel will feature local leaders who fought for civil rights in Pittsburgh during the late 1960s.

Panelists will include Alma Speed Fox, the executive director of the NAACP from 1966-71; Ralph Proctor, host and producer of the show “Black Horizons,” on WQED-TV in 1968; and Sala Udin, former Pittsburgh city councilman and current interim co-director of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

The panel will be moderated by Rick Adams, who was a student at Westinghouse High School in 1968 and is now assistant vice president for the Frieda G. Shapira Center for Learning Through Service at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC).

The speakers will discuss what Pittsburgh was like during the tumultuous year of 1968, which included the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the subsequent rioting in Pittsburgh neighborhoods and across the nation.

Admission to the “Civil Rights in Pittsburgh: Lessons from 1968” panel is $10 for visitors and free for History Center members. Admission includes access to the History Center’s 1968: The Year That Rocked America exhibition.

The 1968 exhibit explores this watershed in American history using evocative objects, state-of-the-art multimedia displays, and more than 100 artifacts related to 1968’s seminal moments.

WHO:
– Alma Speed Fox, former executive director of the NAACP (1966-71)
 – Ralph Proctor, professor of ethnic and diversity studies, Allegheny Campus at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)
– Sala Udin, interim co-director of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture
– Rick Adams, panel moderator, assistant vice president for the Frieda G. Shapira Center for Learning Through Service at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)

WHEN: Wed., Feb. 27  6:00 p.m.

WHERE: Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

** For more information, photos, and a listing of public programs related to the
1968: The Year That Rocked America exhibit, visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org **



Visitors can view video footage from Dr. Martin Luther King’s final public speech and items from King’s funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, including the communion plate, microphone, and program, as part of the History Center’s new exhibit, 1968: The Year That Rocked America.

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