Speaker reflects on 100th anniversary of the Niagara Movement
Kesha Williams
February 01, 2005 Elizabeth City State presents Dr. Reginald F. Hildebrand, associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the speaker for the Black History Month annual assembly at 11 a.m. February 3 in the Fine Arts Complex. Dr. Hildebrand’s keynote address "Not One Job or Title Loss, W. E. B. Dubois and the Niagara Movement," reflects the national theme for Black History Month, "The 100th Anniversary of the Niagara Movement." In 1905, a group of black intellectuals led by the W. E. B. Dubois called for full civic, political, and social rights. The group met at Niagara Falls to plan organizational steps to end segregation and discrimination. The group established additional organizational chapters over the course of five years but eventually dissolved. Many of the group’s initiatives reappeared with the formation of the NAACP. Dr. Hildebrand is a published author and active lecturer in academic and community settings. His community service includes the Durham branch of the NAACP membership on the planning committee for the African-American Film Festival (Durham, NC) and President of the Board of Directors for the Greylock ABC Chapter of a Better Chance Inc. Dr. Hildebrand earned a Bachelor of Arts and the Master of Arts from Howard University and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. This annual celebration of Black History Month began in 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson named the second week of February as Negro History Week. In 1976 that weeklong celebration was extended for the month of February, to become known as Black History Month. ECSU welcomes the public to attend the February 11 assembly.