Tuesday, February 03, 2004

By Tiffany Johnson, PR Intern

Wilmington, N.C. – In celebration of Black History Month and the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington will present “Before Brown, There Was Plessy” with Keith Weldon Medley at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12 in Bryan Auditorium, Morton Hall, Room 100. Medley is the author of We As Freeman – Plessy v. Ferguson – The Fight Against Segregation. The event is open to the public and a ticket is not required. In 1896 the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case established the “separate but equal” doctrine that prevailed in America until the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

Medley, a native of New Orleans, La., is a free-lance writer and photographer who received grants in 2001 and 2002 from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. His contributions have appeared in numerous historical and news publications, including the Smithsonian magazine. His essay on Mardi Gras Indians appeared in a catalogue that accompanies “The Ties That Bind: Making Family New Orleans Style,” a photography exhibit underwritten by the Annie Casey Foundation. Medley has written extensively on the New Orleans origins of Plessy v. Ferguson and was interviewed about his work for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”

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NOTE TO MEDIA: For additional information, call Yvonne G. Smith, UNCW Office of Campus Diversity at 910/962-3832 or e-mail smithy@uncw.edu.