Educating King: Civil Rights, the Liberal Arts and the education that changed the nation

Civil Rights and the Liberal Arts topic of MLK, Jr., Day lecture at Hastings College

Note to Media: For additional information, contact Alicia O’Donnell at 402-705-0120 or aodonnell@hastings.edu.

(Hastings, Neb.) – As part of its festivities for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, Hastings College will host Dr. Charles W. McKinney, Jr., Associate Director of African American Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. He will speak on Monday, Jan. 16 at 10:45 a.m. in French Memorial Chapel (800 N. Turner Ave.) His lecture, entitled “Educating King: Civil Rights, the Liberal Arts and the education that changed the nation,” will be free and open to the public.

Among Dr. McKinney’s academic interests is how the civil rights movement unfolded in the Rural South. In his book Greater Freedom: The Evolution of the Civil Rights Struggle in Wilson, North Carolina, Dr. McKinney explores the roles of social engagement and protest outside of the South’s urban centers such as Atlanta, Ga., and Birmingham, Ala.

Bio for Dr. Charles W. McKinney, Jr.

Charles W. McKinney, Jr. is an Associate Professor of History and the Associate Director of African American Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He teaches courses in African American History and American social and political history.

Dr. McKinney’s particular areas of interest include the Civil Rights Movement, the relationship between history and memory in the creation of historical narratives, and the confluence of Black Power and Civil Rights ideology.

He is the author of Greater Freedom: The Evolution of the Civil Rights Struggle in Wilson, North Carolina, a book that sheds light on the dynamic interplay between black agency and white repression, the viability of building a movement in the Rural South, and the evolving nature of social change in the middle of the twentieth century.

His article “Multiple Fronts: The Struggle for Black Educational and Political Equality in Wilson, North Carolina, 1941-1953” won the R.D.W. Connor Award for Outstanding Article in The North Carolina Historical Review for 2011. Another article, entitled “Finding Fannie Corbett: Black Women and the Transformation of Civil Rights Narratives in Wilson, North Carolina”, appears in the volume Local Studies, A National Movement: Toward a New Synthesis of the Black Freedom Struggle, edited by Emilye Crosby.

Dr. McKinney earned his B.A. degree in history from Morehouse College, and his doctorate in American History from Duke University. He is married to Natalie McKinney, and is the proud father of Charles, Mathias and Vanessa Marie, who is currently a senior at Hastings (Neb.) College.

Hastings College, founded in 1882, is a private, four-year liberal arts institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). A total of 64 majors in 32 areas of study and 12 pre-professional programs are offered to more than 1,150 students. Hastings College was named among “America’s Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report, a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review, and a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s. Visit www.hastings.edu for more information.

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TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Hastings College, 710 N. Turner, Hastings, NE 68901 • (800) 532-7642 January 5, 2012 For Immediate Release