'African-American Contributions
To Revolutionary War Era' Topic for Seminar

Following the success of an African-American Conference held in York last year, a second conference will be held on Saturday, March 15.

Featuring four outstanding speakers, "African-American Contributions to the Revolutionary War Era" is designed for area educators and those individuals interested in history. The program will be held at the Yorktowne Hotel.

The conference, being held in conjunction with the on-going Nine Months in York Town celebration, will include presentations by:

• DEBRA NEWMAN HAM. Her topic will be "African-Americans in Pennsylvania During the American Revolutionary War Era." A graduate of William Penn High School in York, Dr. Ham is a professor at Morgan State University. She holds her Bachelor's degree in History from Howard University, her Master's degree in African History from Boston University and her Doctorate in African history from Howard University. She was the keynote speaker for the 25th Annual Conference on Black History in Pennsylvania held in York last May.

•CHARLES L. BLOCKSON. He will discuss "Little Known Facts About Blacks During the American Revolutionary War Era." Born in Norristown, Dr. Blockson is a noted scholar and author. He holds three honorary degrees and has written more than 10 books. He has donated his extensive collection related to Black culture to Temple University. The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection has grown to more than 150,000 books, document and photographs. Scholars from around the world have used the collection for resource information. Dr. Blockson also was a speaker at last May's conference.

• EMMA LAPSANSKY. Her topic of discussion will be "Bringing African-American History Alive in the Classroom." Dr. Lapsansky is curator of Haverford College's Quaker Collection and a professor of History at the Pennsylvania college. She holds her Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She oversees the care and maintenance of one of the most extensive collections of Quaker history in the world. The collection includes 40,000 books and several hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. She was also at speaker at the Pennsylvania conference last May.

• RUSSELL P. SMITH. The luncheon speaker, Mr. Smith talk about "Good Intentions: Observations on the Interpretation of African-American History in the National Park System." Mr. Smith is Chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services for the Northeast Region of the National Park Service. His area of responsibility includes working with park superintendents in more than 70 areas from Maine to West Virginia. A native of New Castle, Delaware, he is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in American History.

Information on the conference, which plans to provide Continuing Education Credits (Act 48 hours) for Pennsylvania certified educators, is available by calling the York County Heritage Trust at 848-1587. There is no charge for the program, however the cost of the luncheon is $25. Pre-registration is required for the program and the luncheon. The deadline for registration is March 3.

The program will conclude at 4 p.m. with a reception and book signing at the Historical Society Museum, 250 East Market Street, York.

The conference is being coordinated by York residents Michael Newsome and Shirley Johnson.

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