For Immediate
Release—Monday, October 1, 2007
Contact:
Tony Hoppa
Assistant Vice President for Communications
(585) 245-5516
thoppa@geneseo.edu
SUNY Geneseo to display Mule
Train Exhibit
Oct. 22-Nov.17
Photographer Roland L. Freeman to
deliver
opening presentation
GENESEO, N.Y.— To commemorate the 40th
anniversary of The Mule Train, award-winning photographer Roland L. Freeman
will deliver a multimedia presentation titled, "Photographs and Reminiscences"
at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, in the Alice Austin Theatre in Brodie Hall. His
two exhibits— "The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered" and "Some
Things of Value"—will be on display from Oct. 22-Nov. 17 at the Bertha
V.B. Lederer Gallery in Brodie Hall and the Lockhart Gallery in the McClellan
House, respectively.
Following his presentation,
there will be an opening reception at 4:30 p.m. in the Lockhart Gallery,
located at 26 Main Street in Geneseo. Gallery Director Cynthia Hawkins hopes
people understand the significance of this exhibit. "It reminds us of the
struggles that the poor in America faced, and in large part continue to face,
and of efforts made to make America aware of the plight of its poor, both black
and white," she said.
Freeman, a longtime
Washington photographer who specializes in documenting the folklore of black
America, is the founder and president of The Group for Cultural Documentation.
He was recently named a 2007 National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment
for the Arts (NEA). Freeman has also been chosen for the 2007 Bess Lomax Hawes Award, which is the highest honor
awarded as part of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship.
The Mule Train was a
protest against poverty in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King created
the Poor Peoples Campaign but was assassinated during its planning stages. The
Southern Christian Leadership Conference continued King's effort, and The Poor
Peoples Committee of approximately 100 people began lobbying and implementation
efforts.
On April 29, 1968,
campaign leaders were dispersed around the country for formal start-ups of the
various caravans destined for Washington, D.C. from the West, South and
North. Several weeks later, the
Mule Train left Marks, Mississippi on May 13 for the nation's capital, with 15
to 20 mule-drawn wagons and 115 people. By the time participants arrived in
Washington, the Mule Train had included 7,000 people who set up a temporary
city known as Resurrection City on the Washington Mall.
Freeman, a native of
Baltimore, Maryland, began his career as a freelance photographer in the 1960s
photographing the Civil Rights Movement. Assignments since then have emphasized
photojournalism, commercial work and photo-documentation. For more information,
view Freeman's biography at http://www.nea.gov/honors/heritage/fellows/fellow.php?id=2007_04.
Included among his
numerous honors and achievements are the Living Legend Award for Distinguished
Achievement in Photography from the National Black Arts Festival and an
Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Millsaps College. Freeman also was
the first photographer to be awarded a Young Humanist Fellowship by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. He is an accomplished author who has
composed many books, each of which has been accompanied by a
national/international touring exhibit.
Exhibit Hours
During the exhibit period, "The Mule
Train" will be open at the Bertha V.B. Lederer Gallery in Brodie Hall
Sunday-Wednesday, noon-4 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday, 5-8 p.m. "Some Things of Value" will be on
display at the Lockhart Gallery in the McClellan House (26 Main Street,
Geneseo) Monday-Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, noon-4 p.m. and Thursday,
noon-8 p.m.
The
Freeman exhibits are made possible through the generosity of John M. Lockhart
II, Susan Lockhart and the President's Office at SUNY Geneseo.
This release was
written by Sara P. Wagner, a senior English and communications major from
Hilton, NY serving as a media relations intern in the Office of Communications
and Publications.
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