USM Alumnus, Hattiesburg Native Anthony Harris to Give Presentation in Conjunction with Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photo Exhibit Feb.1
Wed, 01/31/2024 - 03:13pm | By: David Tisdale
Dr. Anthony Harris, a Hattiesburg native and former University of 51¶şÄĚ Mississippi (USM) administrator and faculty member, will give the presentation “The Stories Behind the Photos” Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. at Gonzales Auditorium (room 108) in the Liberal Arts Building on the Hattiesburg campus. Dr. Harris’ lecture is being held as part of the exhibit “Faces of Freedom Summer: The Photographs of Herbert Randall” currently on display at the USM Gallery of Art and Design, which features Randall’s photography documenting Freedom Summer activities in Hattiesburg during the American Civil Rights Movement.
This event, presented by the University’s Center for the Study of the Gulf South and School of Humanities, commemorates the 60thanniversary of Freedom Summer and held in conjunction with USM’s Black History Month activities. It is free and open to the public. A reception and exhibition viewing will follow in the USM Gallery of Art and Design, located in the George Hurst Building on the Hattiesburg campus.
Dr. Harris grew up during and participated in the civil rights movement as it evolved in Hattiesburg, including as a young student at one of its Freedom Schools, managed by volunteers from all over the country with the goal of advancing citizenship education among disenfranchised and educationally underserved African Americans. He graduated from the city’s historically African American L.J. Rowan High School in 1971 and is a member of the Hattiesburg Public Schools Hall of Fame. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from USM and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University- Commerce. A fellow with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, he has authored 13 books, including Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: A Coming of age story and a personal account of the Civil Rights Movement in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
A longtime champion for social justice, public education, and human rights, Dr. Harris was featured in the PBS documentary “Freedom Summer.” He currently serves as interim dean for the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University; he previously served as an administrator and faculty member at Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Mercer University, and at USM. He also conducts workshops and delivers keynote addresses on topics pertaining to the Civil Rights Movement, the educational success of young Black males, and leadership.
"The Center for the Study of the Gulf South is so proud to sponsor Dr. Anthony Harris’s talk, which will add an important historical context to Herbert Randall’s compelling photographs from Freedom Summer in 1964,” said Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, co-director of the Center and a faculty member in USM’s History program.
“At the heart of the Civil Rights Movement were local people, such as Harris, who fueled the movement with their energy, commitment, and spirit. Harris himself was a student activist in the mid-1960s. He attended a Freedom School, was arrested after picketing at the Forrest County courthouse, and helped to integrate Thames (then) Middle School. Randall captured a sliver of Harris’s life during Freedom Summer, but Harris continued his activism long after that summer, and we will hear more about that long struggle for freedom that continues to the present.”
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