Civil rights expert to give talk

Today, the University will kick off its celebration of Black History Month with a lecture by a prominent civil rights figure.

Mary Frances Berry will deliver a speech, titled “Callie House and the Black Reparations Movement: 1897 to the Present,” focusing on the ex-slave pension movement and reparations, at 7 p.m. in the Cobb Theater of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.

The speech marks the University’s first keynote address to celebrate Black History Month. The address is intended to become an annual event.

“It is very appropriate to have a woman of her stature come speak for the inaugural lecture,” said Archie Ervin, director of the Office for Minority Affairs. “Dr. Berry is very entertaining and informative. It is a great chance for the students to see someone who is that well regarded.”

The theme of Black History Month this year is protest — a topic familiar to Berry. She was a founder of the Free South African Movement, an organization aimed at raising awareness of the South Africans’ struggle for democracy.

“Protest is closely associated with civil rights,” said history professor William Ferris. “One can’t think about the efforts without thinking of Mary Frances Berry. Her name, like Martin Luther King’s, is closely associated with the movement.”

Berry’s expertise comes from many years of experience in the civil rights field. She was the first woman to head the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, serving from 1980 to 2004. She also served as the assistant secretary for education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977 to 1980.

“She is a unique figure, a distinguished historian who has written impressive books and taught,” Ferris said. “She plays a central role as a public figure and represents someone who has had a foot in both the public and academic arenas.”

Berry graduated from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in history and a law degree. She holds 32 honorary degrees, was the first woman to be appointed to the chancellor’s position at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is an accomplished author.

The speech is sponsored by the Department of History in collaboration with 10 other university units, including the Center for the Study of the American South, the Institute of African American Research and the Office of the Provost.

“One of the many goals of the Stone Center is to help the campus and the community explore the challenges that face us today,” said Anita Walton, manager of student and young alumni programs for the General Alumni Association. “Dr. Berry — in her work with the U.S. Department of Heath, Education and Welfare — is certainly something that would be of interest to the Stone Center as it works to establish various outreach components such as the Children’s Place.”

Ferris said he looks forward to hearing Berry’s speech and encouraged students to attend.

“Her speeches are powerful and moving,” Ferris said. “She is a charismatic figure and combines that with being a first-rate scholar.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.