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=The African-American Historical Association of Newton County, Georgia, Inc.=

The African-American Historical Association of Newton County is dedicated to documenting and celebrating the African-American history and cultural heritage of Newton County, Georgia. We welcome the participation of all who are interested in the rich and diverse history of our local communities.

We seek to:
 * Support and encourage research into all aspects of African-American history and cultural heritage in Newton County, Georgia
 * Develop interpretive materials on local African-American history and culture, including books, pamphlets, newsletters, exhibitions, driving and walking tours, historical markers, websites, audio-visual materials and electronic media broadcasts.
 * Encourage people of all ages and background to participate in researching and sharing information about local African-American history and heritage.
 * Work closely with local educators and educational institutions to educate young people about local African-American history and heritage.
 * Sponsor conferences, workshops, and community conversations about African-American history, heritage and genealogy in our area.
 * Deepen mutual understanding, respect and tolerance across lines of race, ethnicity and gender in our communities.

The Association has been registered as a 501(c)3 organization.

We are eager for your support, through financial contributions or volunteer service. Tax deductible donations may be sent to:

African-American Historical Association of Newton County, Inc.

Post Office Box 1246

Covington, Georgia 30015-1246

Please join us!

__**UPCOMING EVENT**__

Sunday, February 6, 2010 in Covington and Oxford, Newton County.
 * Remembrance in Slavery's Aftermath. A Day of Commemoration, Reflection, and Celebration.**

On the final day of the conference, //"Slavery and the #|University: Histories and Legacies"// (hosted by Emory University) conference participants and community members will gather in Newton County, Georgia, where Emory College was founded in 1836, to reflect on the local legacies of slavery and its aftermath. In its early decades, Emory College depended in significant ways on the labor of enslaved people; many of its faculty were actively involved in the theological and legal defense of the peculiar institution. This history is intertwined with stories of religious faith; the great national schism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, for example, was precipitated by the slave-owning status of Methodist Bishop James Osgood Andrew, first president of the Emory Board of Trustees. Following Emancipation, freedpeople and their descendants continue to work on and around the Emory College campus in varied capacities, although they and their children were not allowed to attend Emory until the 1960s.

On February 6, the first Sunday of African American History Month, we will gather to reflect on this complex shared history, join in worshipful remembrance, and celebrate the achievements of the many families descended from enslaved persons who contributed to the creation and development of Emory University.

Our discussions on Sunday, February 6, will engage with an #|installation work by the noted African #|American artist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier. Entitled, //"Unraveling Miss Catherine's Cloak,"// this multimedia piece emerges out of the artist's collaborative work with many people from Emory and Newton County. The work's title refers to Catherine Andrew Boyd (c. 1822-1851), also known as "Miss Kitty," one of the enslaved persons owned by Bishop James Osgood Andrew. The details of Miss Kitty's life have long been discussed and contested among Oxford's white and African American families; it is our hope that in remembering Miss Kitty, whose story has long divided members of the Oxford and Emory communities, diverse voices will be united in respectful dialogue.

Working Schedule:

11:00 a.m. Service of Worship and Remembrance. Grace United Methodist Church. Communion Sunday Service. 3145 Washington Street SW, Covington Georgia. //(Sermon by Bishop Mike Watson. North Georgia Conference)//

2:30 p.m. Slavery and Jim Crow in Oxford, Georgia: A Talking Circle //(Descendants of enslaved families and the families of slaveowners gather to reflect on the complex history of slavery and its aftermath at Emory University an Oxford, Georgia.// [Installation in Old Church of Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier's sculptural work, //"Unraveling Miss Catherine's Cloak']//

4:15 pm. Wreath Laying in Oxford city cemetery in the historic African-American section of the cemetery and at the gravesite of Catherine "Miss Kitty" Boyd.

//NOTE: The talking circle in Old Church is cosponsored by The African American Historical Association of Newton County, The Oxford Historical Shrine Society and the Transforming Community Project of Emory University.//

Recent Events


 * CURRENT ART EXHIBITION**

Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier. Mapping the Present...Just Went By. Madison Morgan Cultural Center, Madison, Georgia/

See Lynn on video at http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1452499445677


 * RECENT PROGRAMS**

//Community History Internship program. In collaboration with the Washington Street Community Center, the African-American Historical Association of Newton County supervised six community history interns during Summer 2009.//


 * [|Please visit our YouTube channel!]
 * //**Please join our Facebook group "Afro-Newton"!**//

//Academic advisors://
 * Prof. Mark Auslander (Department of Anthropology & [|M.A. program in Cultural Production], Brandeis University) mausland@brandeis.edu
 * Prof. Ellen Schattschneider (Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University)
 * Prof. Bradd Shore (Department of Anthropology, Emory University)

Contact: Mr. Forrest Sawyer, Jr. (770) 788-0792. forrestsawyer1@gmail.com

Links:

> "The Other Side of Paradise: Glimpsing Slavery in the University's Utopian Landscapes" Southern Spaces (May 2010) > []
 * [|The Oxford African-American Cemetery](Emory MARIAL Center)
 * [|A Dream Deferred: African Americans at Emory and Oxford Colleges, 1836-1968](Emory MARIAL Center)
 * [|Thy Brothers and Sisters Keeper](1430 am WGFS)
 * Mark Auslander essay on remembering slavery at Oxford College of Emory University:

//For more information about the African-American Historical Association of Newton County, or to share information about the county's African-American history, please contact the association president Mr. Forrest Sawyer, Jr. (770) 788-0792.// //forrestsawyer1@gmail.com//