Release date: Oct. 29, 2003
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Emory Presents "12 Black Classicists" Exhibit, Lecture

WHAT: The photography exhibit "12 Black Classicists"

WHEN: Exhibit: Nov. 5-24, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday

WHERE: Exhibit: Second Floor, Candler Library, 550 Asbury Circle, Emory

COST: Free and open to the public. For more information, call 404-727-4404 or 404-727-7987.

"12 Black Classicists," a photography exhibit honoring 12 African-American intellectuals who made groundbreaking achievements in academia immediately following the Civil War, opened at Emory University Nov. 5. Marking the opening was a lecture on "The Origins of Black Classicism" by Michele Ronnick of Wayne State University, the exhibit's creator.

The group of scholars featured includes the earliest black member of the Modern Language Association, four university or college presidents, diplomats and the first black faculty members at several institutions. Four of the scholars were associated with Georgia: Macon-born William Sanders Scarborough, the first black member of the Modern Language Association and author of a Greek textbook (1881); William Henry Crogman, a graduate of Atlanta University, who spent his career at Clark University where he eventually served as president; John Wesley Gilbert, born in Hephzibah, Ga., who taught at Paine College in Augusta; and Reuben Lovinggood, a graduate of Clark and eventual president of Huston College in Austin, Texas.

The idea for the collection of photographs first came to Ronnick during her research for a book on the life of Scarborough. Born a slave, Scarborough was, at the end of his life, an internationally respected classics scholar. "His achievements were amazing even for the average American who spoke only one language and often could not read or write well, let alone for an African-American who was denied public schooling," said Ronnick in a recent Detroit public radio interview.

Ronnick collected photographs of Scarborough and his colleagues and created a 12-photo exhibit of the faces of 11 men and one woman: the first black classicists in the country. "These faces, to me, were incredibly expressive. In fact, perhaps more expressive than something in writing could be. And then I began to think, How about throwing a sort of cocktail party for them? Bring them all back like an archaeological dig. So, that was the impetus behind the faces, putting the faces together. And they've been waiting a long time to be seen again," said Ronnick.

"With them," says Ronnick, "begins the serious study and teaching of philology (the study of language) by African Americans. All who study language and literature in the U.S. today, be it Italian, Swahili, Sanskrit, English or Arabic, can see an important historical moment for their disciplines in the careers of the men and women featured in this photo installation."

The exhibit debuted at the Detroit Public Library in September and will spend the next two years traveling to universities around the country.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade, Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system.

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