Birmingham Public Library Locations Hosting Variety of Black History Month Programs and Activities

Our Quilts, Our Souls, Our Heritage is one of the many special events
scheduled during Black History Month at the Birmingham Public Library

There will be plenty of opportunities to learn about African American history at the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) during Black History Month in February.

At the West End Branch Library on February 24, Lawson State Community College Adjunct History Professor Gregory Wilson will present The Harton Family: A Photographic Journey, a program highlighting how a student discovered her ancestral family through a Birmingham Public Library exhibit curated by Andrew Nelson in 2012.

The Central Library's Beyond the Basics of Genealogy program on February 6 will present The Ties That Bind: Connecting to your Alabama Slave and Slaveholder Ancestors. On February 19, the Powderly Branch Library will host Healthy Soul Food Cooking with Chef E.

Also on February 19, the Springville Road Regional Branch Library will present Common Threads: Our Quilts, Our Souls, Our Heritage, a 10 a.m. discussion by Phyllis Lawson of her book, Quilt of Souls, followed by a lunch and free heirloom quilt workshop by Gees Bend quilter Marlene Bennett Jones.

Below see a listing by date a variety of black history month programs taking place at several BPL locations throughout February (for other activities not on this list go to www.bplonline.org):

Tuesday, February 2
10:30 a.m. – Celebration of African American History and Culture, Powderly Branch Library. Feature story: A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

3:30 p.m. – MLK Dream Catchers program, Smithfield Branch Library. Objective: Helping children find the inner MLK in them by each child adding a hand to a large dream catcher.

Wednesday, February 3 
10:00 a.m. –  Celebration of African American History and Culture, Smithfield Branch Library. Feature story: A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

4:00 p.m. – Black History Month Art Project, Springville Road Regional Branch Library. Kids and teens are invited to work together to create an awesome photo mosaic in honor of Black History Month. The finished project will be displayed all month in the Children's Department.

Friday, February 5
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American History and Culture, Wylam Branch Library. Feature story: A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

Saturday, February 6
10:00 a.m. – The Ties That Bind: Connecting to Your Alabama Slave and Slaveholder Ancestors, Central Library. A number of readily available sources from 1860 to 1870 may enable you to find and to follow your slave and slaveholder ancestors within that critical period of transition. Knowing the best way to build a bridge to that era and how to utilize and assess its records will greatly increase your chances for success in this research.

Beyond the Genealogy workshops are free of charge, but registration is requested. To register, contact the Southern History Department at (205) 226-3665 or askgenlocal@bham.lib.al.us.

2:00 p.m. – Movie and popcorn, Five Points West Branch Library. Feature film on African American family about the power of prayer.

Monday, February 8
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, West End Branch Library. Feature story: Violet’s Music by Angela Johnson

4:30-5:30 p.m. – Black History Research Computer Class, Five Points West Regional Branch Library, grades 5-12 only. Registration required at 205-226-4013

4:30 p.m. – African American Poetry Read, North Birmingham Regional Branch Library. All Ages (adults, teens, tweens). Come read original or published African American pieces. Light refreshments.

6:30-7:30 p.m. – African American genealogy program, Avondale Regional Branch Library

Tuesday, February 9
10:30 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Powderly Branch Library. Feature story: Violet’s Music by Angela Johnson

3:30 p.m. – MLK Dream Catchers program, Smithfield Branch Library. Objective: Helping children find the inner MLK in them by each child adding a hand to a large dream catcher.

6:00 p.m. – Family Night Celebration of African American Heritage, Five Points West Regional Branch Library. Embrace African American culture through story, song, dance, and play. “Fanga, Alafia, Ashe Ashe.” Registration is required by calling 205-226-4013

Wednesday, February 10
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Smithfield Branch Library. Feature story: Violet’s Music by Angela Johnson

10:00 a.m. – Join Wylam Branch Library for a game of Black History Jeopardy. Light refreshments will be served.

3:15 p.m. – I was a Civil Rights Kid: An Oral History about Birmingham, Alabama. With Winfield and Elinor Burks, Ensley Branch Library.

3:30 p.m. – Game Day Friday, Black History Trivia, Inglenook Branch Library.

Thursday, February 11
10:30 a.m. – Cinema in Black, Titusville Branch Library. 1963: The Year That Changed Everything: As Told by the People Who Were There. Hosted by Leo Taylor. Snacks will be served.

3 p.m. – Screening of a Black History movie, title to be determined, Woodlawn Branch Library.

Friday, February 12
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Wylam Branch Library. Feature story: Violet’s Music by Angela Johnson.

Saturday, February 13
10:00 a.m. – African American sports movie, Southside Branch Library. This movie shows an aspect of local and national black history which the Birmingham and baseball community will appreciate.

10:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. – Birmingham African American Genealogy Group (BAAGG) Black Heritage Expo, Central Library. At the expo, you can experience black history displays, African dance, music, youth in genealogy, and various vendors. The expo will be in the Arrington Auditorium located on the 4th floor of the Linn-Henley building. For more information, contact Birmingham African American Genealogy Group at baagginc@gmail.com.

Monday, February 15
3:30 p.m. – African American Reading Circle, Titusville Branch Library. Celebrate African American literature by reading aloud your favorite books, poems, and stories. Refreshments will be served.

5:45 p.m. – Monday Night African American Movie Night for Adults. Light refreshments. North Birmingham Regional Branch Library

Tuesday, February 16
10:30 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Powderly Branch Library. Feature story: Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson

3:30 p.m. – MLK Dream Catchers program, Smithfield Branch Library. Objective: Helping children find the inner MLK in them by each child adding a hand to a large dream catcher.

3:30 p.m. – Young Leadership Tuesday – Feature on Black History-themed book, Inglenook Branch Library.

Wednesday, February 17
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Smithfield Branch Library. Feature story: Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson

10:30 a.m.-noon – Active Living @ Your Library, Five Points West Regional Branch Library. Participants will test their knowledge in a game of Black History Jeopardy

11:00 a.m. – Wylam Book Group discussion of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis. Through the story of 15-year-old Hattie Shepherd, Mathis tells of the struggles of African Americans who chose to move from the rural South to the industrial North looking for better lives. This period of American history is called The Great Migration. The book is an Oprah 2.0 Book Club selection, a New York Times Notable Book, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and a Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year. Light lunch will be served. Call the library if you would like a copy of the book reserved for you.

4:00 p.m. – Art Attack for Kids - A lesson in Pointillism, North Birmingham Regional Branch Library. Patrons create art exposing important people and places in African American history.

4:00 p.m. – Let Freedom Ring storytime, feature stories about the heroes of African American history, Springville Road Regional Branch Library.

4:00 p.m. – African American Inventors - hands-on learning tool allowing students to experiment with notable inventions by African Americans, Springville Road Regional Branch Library. Children in elementary schools are invited to learn about and make crafts based on contributions made by African American inventors.

Friday, February 19
10:00 a.m. – Healthy Soul Food Cooking with Chef E, Powderly Branch Library. Registration required: Call 205-925-6178.

10:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. – Our Quilts, Our Souls, Our Heritage, an heirloom quilt workshop by Marlene Bennett Jones, Springville Road Regional Branch Library.

10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Wylam Branch Library. Feature story: Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson.

1:30 p.m. – The Day George Crum Invented Potato Chips, North Avondale Branch Library. Learn about George Crum’s 1853 invention while he was head chef at the Cary Moon’s Lake House in Lake Saratoga, N.Y. This biographical, fun, fact-filled discussion is for school-age children.

3:30 p.m. – Black History movie showing of historical African American film, Inglenook Branch Library.

Saturday, February 20
2:00-4:00 p.m. – Join Five Points West Regional Branch Library for a live concert featuring S.M.I.T.H. Entertainment playing some of the great hits by African American recording artists.

Sunday, February 21
3:00 p.m. – Sunday Matinee with popcorn at Five Points West Regional Branch Library featuring the 2015 live adaption of the 1975 Broadway musical featuring Dorothy, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man.

Monday, February 22
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, West End Branch Library. Featuring African American folk and fairy tales.

3:30 p.m. – African American Teen Trivia Challenge, Titusville Branch Library.

3:30 p.m. – Guess Who Invented These Great Inventions? Scavenger Hunt, North Avondale Branch Library. Lonnie Johnson is best known for inventing the Super Soaker toy water gun. Have fun learning about great inventors and their inventions while participating in this scavenger hunt. All ages.

6:00 p.m. – Got to Dance African Jazz!, North Birmingham Regional Branch Library. Patrons of all ages are invited to dance and learn a new African jazz routine.

Tuesday, February 23
10:30 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Powderly Branch Library. Featuring African American folk and fairy tales.

3:30 p.m. – Young Leadership Tuesday, featuring Black History-themed book, Inglenook Branch Library.

Wednesday, February 24
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American History and Culture, Smithfield Library. African American folk and fairy tales.

10:30 a.m. – Active Living @ Your Library, Five Points West Regional Branch Library. Participants enjoy popcorn and a 2015 American thriller film starring Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy, and Morris Chestnut.

3:15 p.m. – Movie and Popcorn, Woodlawn Branch Library. Feature film about the historical events in Selma, Alabama.

3:15 p.m. – Movie and Popcorn, Powderly Branch Library. Feature film about the historical events in Selma, Alabama.

3:30 p.m. – Harton Family: A Photographic Journey, West End Branch Library. This presentation by Gregory Wilson, adjunct history instructor at Lawson State Community College, highlights a former student of his Afro-History class, Sherriell Poole. Poole discovered her ancestral family in a photograph that was part of a Birmingham Public Library exhibit curated by Andrew Nelson in 2012. Titled Both Sides of the Lens: Photographs by the Shackelford Family, Fayette County, Alabama (1910-1935), the collection of photographs represented more than 850 glass plate negatives that offered a visual record of everyday life in rural Alabama preserved in the BPL Archives. The Shackelford photographs offer a rarely seen depiction of an African American family taken around 1910 or earlier.

Thursday, February 25
1:30 p.m.  – African American Storytelling: “Goin' Someplace Special,” North Avondale Branch Library. Travel back in time to a southern town during the 1950s to learn about a young girl’s struggle to visit a place where all are welcome. For young school-aged children.

Friday, February 26
10:00 a.m. – Celebration of African American history and culture through literature, song, dance, and play, Wylam Branch Library. Featuring African American folk and fairy tales.

Monday, February 29
4:00 p.m. – Wenonah High School Choir Presents Negro Spirituals, Powderly Branch Library.

6:00 p.m. – Reception and program recognizing Black History, North Birmingham Regional Branch Library.

All Month Long Activities
Black History Month Trivia – During the month of February, test your knowledge of Black History by answering the weekly questions on the activity board in the Five Points West Regional Branch Library Youth Department. Participants may enter their name into a weekly drawing for prizes.

Children will create characters calling for unity of all people worldwide for the North Birmingham Regional Branch Library’s children's bulletin board that will be displayed throughout the month of February.

Black History puzzle sheets for North Birmingham Regional Branch Library’s Teen Brain-Tease Trivia contest all month long. Children are invited to work on a special Black History word sheet for prizes.

Martin Luther King Jr. Scavenger Hunt, available for participants in the Springville Road Regional Branch Library.

A Black History Month Scavenger Hunt at East Lake Branch Library.

Visit http://www.bplonline.org/locations/ for information on Birmingham Public Library locations.

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