The Agatha Babino's Story Workshop and Lecture Series is guaranteed to expand your understanding of the conditions of life in the past. Diving into the circumstances of Agatha's life helps broaden our appreciation for family connections and the ability of generations of African Americans to thrive despite various impeding obstacles.

September 5, 6 pm - 8 pm

Learning from the Texas WPA Slave Narratives

Dr. Ronald Goodwin, Prairie View A&M University

Join us for an engaging and enlightening evening with Dr. Goodwin as we discuss the complex dynamics of the Works Progress Administration and the Slave Narrative interviews conducted with formerly enslaved Texans.

Dr. Ronald Goodwin, Professor and Interim Department Head from Prairie View A&M University, will discuss the collection of interviews of formerly enslaved people conducted in Texas during the 1930s. Dr. Goodwin is a distinguished author, historian, and scholar who has devoted his professional life to uplifting and educating others about the historical accomplishments and contributions of African Americans. Since 2019, he has served as the general editor of the PVAMU Book Series at Texas A&M University Press.

Dr. Goodwin will delve into various interviews from the WPA Slave Narratives. The Slave Narratives is one of the most recognizable projects of the Works Progress Administration. In his book Remembering the Days of Sorrow, Goodwin closely examines the words and impressions offered by formerly enslaved interviewees. Formerly enslaved Texans shared their experiences of suffering under the burden of both slavery and the devastation of the 1930s. Dr. Goodwin's lecture will also specifically shed light on the Texas New Deal era by citing examples from his work, The New Deal and Texas History: Saving the Past through Hardship and Turmoil.

September 18, 6 pm - 8 pm

Exploring Familial Connections through Art

April M. Frazier, Community Artists' Collective

Enjoy the talented April Frazier's artistic interpretations of family history. Through meaningful interactions and immersive experiences, the program will encourage and enable participants to express their creativity. Participants will create family-inspired artwork using a photo, artifact, or memory they bring with them. Supplies provided.

April M. Frazier is a creative photographer and artist who traces her roots in Texas from the era of enslavement to the present through an innovative fusion of unearthed artifacts, ancestral images, and decades of research. She is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University and the Jones School of Business at Rice University, where she received her MBA. Following a lengthy 15-year experience in the oil and gas sector, April founded her own photography company in 2011. In early 2024, she accepted the role of Assistant Director and Photographic Education Coordinator at the Community Artists' Collective.

One of her most cherished and ongoing projects is to construct a genealogy picture of her family's enslaved migration from Africa to Jamaica and various places in the United States by photographing the terrain of her ancestral roots in Texas and fusing it with family relics. Her images have been showcased in exhibitions at galleries in London, New York, Texas, and Oregon.

October 3, 6 pm - 8 pm

Beaumont's Black History in Moving Pictures

Gordon S. Williams, Lamar University

We invite you to a special screening and discussion of two short films that shed light on the history of African Americans in Beaumont. Go back in time to experience the successes and challenges of Texas’s past. Followed by Q&A with the film’s director and producer, Gordon Williams.

Gordon S. Williams is the Lamar University Television Studio Operations Manager and adjunct instructor for LUTV News. Gordon serves as an advisor to the Jefferson County Historical Commission, a board member of the Boomtown Film Festival, and the Center for Culture and History of Southeast Texas and the Upper Gulf Coast. Gordon is a recipient of Special Congressional Recognition for his efforts to convey information about Beaumont's past and his decades-long experience training content creators at Lamar University.

As an accomplished creator, his work has played at more than seventy film festivals and universities across the United States. Join Williams for the showing of "Beaumont's Black History- In Moving Pictures," which uses the critically acclaimed short films "The Example" and "They Will Talk About Us: The Charlton-Pollard Story" to shed light on the history of African Americans in Beaumont.

This program is supported by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Rice University Humanities Research Center. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition and its programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Texas, or the Rice University Humanities Research Center.

Contact the host of Agatha Babino's Story - Workshop and Lecture Series