Progra:an
r-
P ..og..anl. Thursday
April 8, 2010
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
McKissick Museum
Friday April9,2010 9;00 AM - 4:00 PM Brookland Baptist Church Greetings and Opening Remarks Dr. Stephanie Milchem Director of the African American Studies Program University of South Carolina Greetings and Opening Remarks ' Rev. Charles B. Jackson, Jr.• Brookland Baptist Church Dr. Mary Anne Fitzpalnck, Dean. USC College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Layla Steelman, Chair, USC Department of Sociology Dr. Melinda Forthofer, Director. USC Institutes for Families in Society Ms. Bonita Billingsley Harris 9.00-9:45
Notes of a Native Son-Andrew Billingsley's Early Years:
Dr. Bobby Donaldson, Moderalor
University of South Carolina
Deacon Olis Dismuke; Coming of Age in Birmingham, 1940-1947
Dr. Lois Benjamin: The Pursuit of Knowledge al Hampton Institute, 1947·1950
Dr. Kesho Scott. The Pursuit of Knowledge at Grinnell College, 1950-1951
9:50-1 1:00
The
nes that Bind: Andrew Billingsley as Mentor and Scholar Dr. Kimberly Simmons, Moderator University of South Carolina Dr. Joyce Ladner Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. Du Bois, Johnson, Frazier, & Billingsley 1115-12:30
Roots: Andrew Billingsley and African American FamlUes Dr. Ronald Walters: The Transfer of Knowledge-The Howard Years, 1970-1975
Dr. Andrew Billingsley: Closing Remarks
Professor Ma~orle Hammock, Moderator Benedict College Dr. Robert Hill: Redefining the Study of Black Families Dr. Dorothy Smilh-Ruiz: Using Billingsley's Scholarship in the Classroom 12:45- 2:00
Luncheon Program: Dr. Cleveland Seilers, Moderator Voorhees College CLlMBrNG
Keynote Speaker Dr. Howard Dodson Searching for Self, Searching for Heritage: Following Andrew Billingsley 2:00-4:00
To Serve a Present Age: Billingsley In South Carolina Ms. Judith Crocker Billingsley, Moderator Dr. Patricia Stone Motes: Advancing Scholarship at USC Reverend Kenneth Hodges: Documenting African Americans in Beaufort County Mr. J. T. McLawhorn: Billingsley and the State of Black South Carolina Ms. Kharimah Dessow: The Andrew Billingsley Research Project Dr. Andrew Billingsley: Closing Remarks Speake..s
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Speake..s lois BenJamin, IS an endowed Unl'lerslty Professor at Hampton University. Her areas of spe­
cialization are qualitatIve social research, race and racism, gender stratlflcatlon, and black middle
class. Some of her recent publications include in Black Women in the Academy Promises and
Perils, Three Black Generations at the Crossroads. Community, Cullure, and Consciousness,
and The Black Elite: Still Facing /he Color Une in the Twenty-First Cenfury.
J.T. Mclawhorn has served as the president and chief executive officer of the Columbia Urban
League since 1979. Under Mr. Mclawhorn's direction, the Columbia Urban lea9ue regula~y
publishes The Slale of Black South Carol/na. In January 2000, Mr. Mclawhom was a chief plan­
ner of the King Day at Ihe Dome march and rally, one of the largest civil rights demonstrations In
South Carolina hiStory.
Kharlmah Dessow received her BA. In History from the University of South Carolina. During
her undergraduate career, she received a Magellan Fellowship, which furthered her research on
Andrew Billingsley's academic career. Her project won 1st place in the University's Discovery
Day program.
Patricia Stone Motes is a clinical community psychologist and a researth professor In the Insli­
tute of Family and Neighborhood Ufe at Clemson University. Previously, she served as the asso­
ciate director and director of student affairs in the Institute for Families and Society at USC. Her
publicaUons include a co-edited volume entilled Collaborating with Community Based Organiza­
tions Through Consultation and Technical Assistance
Otis Dismuke, a historian and public school administrator, is a deacon at the SI. James Baptist
Church In Birmingham, Alabama. He serves as president of the Birmingham Branch of the Asso­
ciation for the Study of African American Ufe and History. He is a founding trustee of the Jeffer­
son County Preservation Foundation Mr. DISmuke is also the co-author of The Other Side. The
Story of Birmingham's Black Community.
Howard Dodson serves as the Director of the New York Public Ubrary's Schomburg Center for
Research In Black Cullure, the leading repository of African Ameflcan history and culture in the
country . A scholar, consultant.leoturer, and educator, Dodson has guided the Schomburg Center
through major fund-raising and expansion projects, including successful capital campaigns and
muiti-mlilion-dollar construction and renovation projects. His publications include: Jubilee: The
Emergence of African-American Cu/lure; In Mot/on: The African-American Migration Experience;
and Becoming American The African American Joumey.
Robert HlII Is a sociologist who recently retired as Senior Researcher at Westat, a research firm
in Rockville, Maryland. Previously, he served as the Director of the Institute for Urban Research
at Morgan State University and as the Director of Research for the National Urban League. He Is
the author of Research an the African-American Family: A Holistic Perspective and The
Strengths of African American Families.
Kenneth Hodges is the pastor of Tabemacle Baptist Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. He
serves in the South Carolina State Legislature as a Representative for District 121 in Beaufort
and Colleton counties. He has collaborated with Dr. Andrew Bfllingsley in the study of Congress­
man Robert Smalls. Reverend Hodges is the owner of LyBenson's Gallery and Studio in down­
town Beaufort.
Joyce ladner, a civil rights activist. author, and sociologist. previously served as the Vice Presi­
den! of Academic Affairs and the Interim President at Howard University. Earlier in her career,
she worked as a senior research fellow at the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social
Change in Atlanta. Her books include: Tomorrow's Tomorrow: The Black Woman , The nes That
Bind: nmeless Values For African American Families , and Mixed Families; Adopting Across
Racial Boundaries. Her recent social commentary can be found on The Ladner Report blog.
Kesho Scott is an associate professor of American Studies and Socioiogy al Grinnell College.
Her scholarly Interests Include black women in America. multiculturalism, and unleaming radsm
Previously, she served as a Fulbright Scholar at Ababa University, Addis Ababa 8hiopia. She Is
the author of several books, Including The Habit of Surviving, and Tight Spaces, which was a
winner of the 1988 American Book Award .
Dorothy Smllh-Rulz Is an associate professor in the Africana Studies Department and an ad­
junct professor In the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Char­
lotte. Previously, she held fellowships at the Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public
Health and the Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. Pres­
ently, she serves as a Visiting scholar In residence at the Interdenominational Theological Cenler
in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of her publications include Handbook of Mental Health and Mental
disorder among Black Americans and Amazing Grace. African American Grandmothers As Care­
givers And Conveyors Of Traditional Values.
Ronald Walters is a respected professor in government and political affairs at the University of
Maryland, College Park. He also serves as director of the African American Leadership Institute
and Scholar Practitioner Program. Previously, he held faculty posl~ons at Brandeis University,
Syracuse University and served as professor and chair of the Political Science Department at
Howard University. He is the author of numerous publications, including The Price of Racial Con­
ciliation; White Nationalism, Black Interests: Conservative Public Polley and the Black Commu­
nity; Freedom IS Not Enough: Black Voters, Black Candidates, and American Presidential Poli­
lics; and Black Presidential Politics in America, which won the Ratph Bunche Prize, given by the
American Political Science Association. In May 2010, he will deliver the commencement address
at Fisk University, his alma mater.