FEBRUARY 03, 2004—This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s desegregation of America's public schools in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. How that decision affects America today will be explored in a series of talks by national experts and a program of related events to be presented at Oberlin College during Black History month. The celebration also will feature a tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis and several community celebrations, including an underground railroad program for children at the Oberlin Public Library and a concert sponsored by the Oberlin Chapter of the NAACP to benefit summer youth program scholarships.

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. (A complete calendar of events is now available online.)

Inaugurating the month, on Feb. 6 and 7, will be "The Lane Debates: The Making of Radical Abolition and the Oberlin Commitment to Racial Egalitarianism," a two-day reenactment by prominent historians of the 1834-35 discussions and College trustee meeting that led Oberlin to become a pioneer in equal education.

On Feb. 9 (cancelled) College Convocation speaker Patricia J. Williams, a renowned legal scholar and "the iconoclastic commentator on race" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), will discuss "Civil Rights in an Era of Global Wrongs." Williams is the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and a columnist on legal, gender, and racial issues for The Nation.

On Feb. 12 Frank Hale, vice provost and professor emeritus at The Ohio State University, will address "Brown v. Board at 50: Nothing Happens Until You Make It Happen," the first of three talks related to the desegregation of public schools.

On Thursday, Feb. 19, Oberlin College President Nancy Dye will lead a panel of faculty and alumni in a discussion titled "Brown v. Board at 50: What are the Continued Challenges of Equal Education at Oberlin College? "

On Feb. 20 Leone Green, a professor of law at Northern Illinois University College of Law, will continue the series on desegregation by discussing "Brown v. Board at 50: What Hath Half a Century Wrought? "

A special Black History month presentation for children in the third grade and up – "A Children's Look at the Underground Railroad" – will be presented Feb. 22 at the Oberlin Public Library by nationally known Underground Railroad historian Cathy D. Nelson. The Elementary Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator for the Columbus Public Schools, Nelson is the founder and president emeritus of the Friends of Freedom Society.

On Feb. 26 Robert A. Hill, professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a national expert on Marcus Garvey, will explore "The Origins of The Harlem Renaissance." Hill also will lead a seminar on Feb. 27, details tba.

Concluding the public program on Feb. 29 will be the concert by the Oberlin Black Musicians Guild. The program will include the music of Miles Davis as well as compositions by students and black composers in the Conservatory's Warner Concert Hall.