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Freedom Rider to Share Story and Documentary at UMW, Feb. 3
More than 50 years ago, a 19-year-old college student named Joan Trumpauer Mulholland bought a flight to Mississippi and joined the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. It was 1961, the year that dozens of sit-ins occurred in diners and drugstores and the same year that the Freedom Rides challenged segregated interstate bus travel in the Deep South. Mulholland, a white teenager raised in the South, was arrested and sent to prison for two months for her involvement in the protests.
Mulholland will share her story at the University of Mary Washington on Monday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. as part of the Black History Month celebration. The evening will begin with a showing of the new documentary, “An Ordinary Hero,” which chronicles her unlikely journey. After the documentary, Mulholland and the film’s director will lead a discussion and answer questions.
Mulholland was among the former Freedom Riders who joined UMW as it commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides in 2011 with a three-month celebration. The centerpiece of the celebration was a 1960s-era bus and exhibit of historical photos on Ball Circle.
UMW’s Black History Month celebration also will feature the following events:
- Saturday, Feb. 1 – Black History Month Kickoff Celebration: Gospelfest
- 3 p.m. in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium
- Tuesday, Feb. 4 – Great Lives Lecture: Martin Luther King Jr.
- 7:30 p.m. in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium
- Thursday, Feb. 6 – Civil War to Civil Rights: Trail to Freedom Teacher Resources Toolkit
- 7 p.m. in Lee Hall, Room 411
- Wednesday, Feb. 12 – Black History Month Keynote Speaker: Angela Rye, principal at IMPACT Strategies and the youngest woman to serve as executive director and general counsel of the Congressional Black Caucus
- 7 p.m. in Lee Hall, Room 411
- Wednesday, Feb. 26 – An Evening of Jazz: A Tribute to America’s Great Black Artists
- 7:30 p.m., Lee Hall, the Underground
All events are free and open to the public. For more information and a detailed list of events, visit http://students.umw.edu/multicultural/programs/black-history-month-celebration/.