Thursday, April 9, 6:30 pm
The Brick
518 N. Western Avenue
Free

The Lost Cause thrives in the absence of a complete and diverse historical record. Gaps, absences, and omissions due, in part, to an intentional lack of collection, deeming some material culture as less worthy of preserving, and relegating Black history to a single month of the year. This panel discussion with archivists, historians, and activists will focus on the ways in which they work within institutions to simultaneously fill in the archive and document the fullness of contemporary Black life for the future.

Erica Veal is the Research Archivist and Interpretation Coordinator at the College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. She is an at-large board member with the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), a Certified Interpretive Guide, and a Certified Interpretive Trainer. She is a former Master Naturalist instructor with over 19 years' experience leading cultural and natural history tours. Erica is also a community organizer with the Lowcountry Action Committee and a board member of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Sterling Warren is a media artist, writer, and public historian from Washington DC. He is currently a Digital Content Producer for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Sterling has developed collaborative projects with the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum, Maryland Historical Society, History of Black Writing (research center), and Galerie Myrtis. He earned his B.A. in Film from Howard University, and a M.A. in Museum Studies and Historical Preservation from Morgan State University.

Daron Lee Calhoun II is a historian on the history of African American Higher Education. He currently serves as the Facilities, Outreach and Public Programming Manager and Director of the Race and Social Justice Initiative at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. Mr. Calhoun is a producer and head researcher on a feature-length documentary film project with director Julie Dash entitled “Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl” on the life and work of Dr. Vertamae Grosvenor. He received his BA in African American Studies from Morehouse College and attended the College of Charleston in the graduate History program. Calhoun has served as the chair of the City of Charleston’s 350th Anniversary Committee on Education and History, the chair of the City of Charleston’s Equity, Inclusion and Racial Conciliation Internal Review Special Committee, the president of the Morehouse College National Alumni Association’s Lowcountry Chapter, and was named as one of South Carolina’s Black Leaders to Know (2023).  He is a community organizer, served as an elected official on the Charleston County School District School Board, and most importantly, a proud father to Sevyn Ayn Calhoun (with one on the way) and husband to, Anneishia Patterson-Calhoun.

Named as one of South Carolina’s Black Leaders to Know (2022), Dr. Tamara T. Butler is the Executive Director of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture and Associate Dean of Strategic Planning & Community Engagement for the College of Charleston Libraries. For more than a decade, Dr. Butler has focused on efforts at the intersections of ecology and educational equity. Currently, she also serves as Vice Chair for the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and a trustee for the National Council of Teachers of English’s Research Foundation.

This program is presented in conjunction with MONUMENTS, an exhibition co-organized and co-presented by The Brick and The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA).