Speaker Explores The Rich Cultural Contributions Of Her Enslaved Ancestors February 4

Chestertown, MD, January 21, 2003 — In honor of Black History Month, Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents “THE DIMINISHING POWER OF MYTH,” a lecture by Dorothy Spruill Redford, executive director of North Carolina's Somerset Place Plantation, Tuesday, February 4, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

More than 20 years ago, inspired by the landmark television program Roots, Dorothy Spruill Redford began researching her family history, a quest that led her to Somerset Place, once one of North Carolina's wealthiest plantations. Four generations of her enslaved ancestors worked and died there, but when she visited the site, there was no mention of the contributions of Somerset's slaves. Convinced that their story must be told, she began organizing a “homecoming,” an event to bring together the black and white descendants of Somerset. The homecoming became a national news story, and on the appointed day, over two thousand people showed up. Since the first homecoming in 1986, the event has continued to grow. Her book, Somerset Homecoming: Recovering a Lost Heritage, chronicles her inspiring journey into her family's past. Alex Haley called it, “the best, most beautifully researched, and most thoroughly presented black family history that I know of.”

Now the executive director of the historic site where her ancestors once worked in bondage, Redford has incorporated the integral story of the enslaved community into the larger history of Somerset. Her lecture will discuss the ways that she has accomplished this, and also address the larger issue of how African-American history fits into and enriches the American historical experience.

“THE DIMINISHING POWER OF MYTH” is a program of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, an innovative forum for new scholarship about American history. Drawing on the special historical strengths of Washington College, the Center explores the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape the fabric of American culture. The Center is interdisciplinary, encouraging the study of traditional history alongside new approaches, and seeking to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

For more information about C. V. Starr Center events and programs, visit the Center online athttp://starrcenter.washcoll.edu, or call 410-810-7156.

Martin Luther King Service

Washington College will host a remembrance service on Monday, January 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Norman James Theater. All are encouraged to attend.

The program is titled "Martin Luther King: Remembering Why," and will feature reading and reflections by faculty and students.

The program will give attendees a chance to reflect on the way life used to be before and during King's life and the results of his work and his sacrifices to end segregation.

For more information about the event, contact Dr. Ruth Shoge in the Miller Library, ext. 7704, or via e-mail: rshoge2@washcoll.edu.

College Equestrian Team Hosts First Intercollegiate Horse Show In Chestertown March 2

Chestertown, MD, January 17, 2003— The Washington College Equestrian Team and Club, in cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania Equestrian Team, will co-host an Intercollegiate Horse Show on Sunday, March 2, 2003, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Crimson Stables on Route 291 (Morgnec Road) in Chestertown. This is the first official qualifying Intercollegiate Horseshow Association (IHSA) competition sponsored by Washington College and held locally. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Currently ranked fourth among 14 schools in IHSA Region 2, Zone 3, the Washington College Equestrian Team will field twenty riders at the March show. Riders will compete in hunt seat equitation, which focuses on the riders' skills in walk, trot, canter and jumping. “Scoring is based on the riders' abilities,” said team coach Sandy Griffiths, “not the horses, and I am confident that our riders will earn enough points to qualify for a place in the IHSA Regional Competition later this year.”

In 2002, the Washington College riders finished the season in sixth place for the region, beating many larger and more established programs. More than half of the newly formed team advanced to the Regional Championships, and student Annette Bangert led the team to its first IHSA National Championship, placing fourth in her class in the nation for hunt seat equitation.

The Washington College Equestrian Club is open to all students of any riding ability, even beginners, and allows students to participate in educational field trips, monthly trail rides, riding lessons, and competitions sponsored by the IHSA. Students do not have to own their own horses to participate in the club activities or IHSA competitions. The IHSA has competitive opportunities for all levels, from beginning to advanced, and horses are assigned by a straw draw at each competition.

Stirring The Mud And The Mind: Author Explores Landscapes And Human Imagination February 5th And 6th

Chestertown, MD, January 10, 2003 — Washington College's Center for the Environment and Societyannounces the next event in the popular Journeys Home Lecture Series. Author Barbara Hurd, Ph.D., will speak Wednesday, February 5, 2003, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Easton's historic Avalon Theatre on “Praising the Mess: Landscape and Imagination.” She will also read selections of prose and poetry centering on the theme of her latest book, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination, at a lunch, talk and book-signing Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 12:30 p.m. in Washington College's O'Neill Literary House. Tickets are required for the Avalon Theatre lecture.

In addition to Stirring the Mud, Dr. Hurd is the author of a volume of poetry, Objects in this Mirror, and a book on caves, forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin. Stirring the Mud was inspired by Maryland's own swamps and wetlands, and is both a physical and mental journey through these vital environments often pushed to the margin of human attention or inexorably altered for our use.

Dr. Hurd's essays and poems have appeared in numerous journals including Best American Essays, The Yale Review, The Georgia Review, Orion, Nimrod, Prairie Schooner, Audubon and others. She is the recipient of a 2002 NEA Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction, four Maryland Individual Artist Awards for Poetry, winner of the Sierra Club's National Nature Writing Award, and a finalist for the Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction and the PEN/Jerard Award. Dr. Hurd teaches creative writing at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD, where she also co-edits the journal Nightsun.

Journeys Home is a collaboration between the Center for the Environment and Society, Adkins Arboretum, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc. Tickets to the Avalon lecture may be purchased at the door or by contacting the Adkins Arboretum at 410-634-2847. The Washington College event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Please call 410-810-7151 by January 27 to reserve a place.

To learn more about educational events and program sponsored by the Washington College Center for the Environment and Society, visit the center online at http://ces.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7151.

Your Move: Speaker Teaches Life's Lessons Through Chess

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003— Washington College's Department of Business Management, Black Student Union, Education Club and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs present “CHESS AND LIFE: PARALLEL LESSONS,” a talk by Eugene Brown, Founder and Director of Washington, DC's Big Chair Chess Club and Deanwood Chess House, Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Hynson Lounge. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

At age 56, Eugene “Chess Man” Brown is a grandfather, a real estate agent, a master barber, and a mentor who aims to help inner city youth in Washington, DC avoid the hard lessons that he had to learn. The founder of DC's Big Chair Chess Club and Deanwood Chess House, Brown uses chess to help both children and adults learn life skills for success. The chess club's motto is also Brown's philosophy for life: “Always think before you move.”

Since its founding in 1993, Brown's Big Chair Chess Club has coached groups of students to city and community chess championships over the past seven years. Through chess instruction and playing, Brown and his volunteers teach others to avoid wrong thinking and poor decision-making that lead to problems and learn the methods of right thinking that can lead to their personal success. The Club shows children and adults how to play chess as a method to realize the practical personal and social benefits of concentration, cooperation and planning; critical, strategic, and analytical thinking; and self-discipline.

War With Iraq? Former UN Inspector Scott Ritter To Speak At Washington College January 30

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003 — Scott Ritter, former Chief Weapons Inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM), will discuss “WAR WITH IRAQ: HOW DID WE GET HERE?” on Thursday, January 30, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in Washington College's Tawes Theater. This timely talk is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

As a chief weapons inspector for the UNSCOM, Ritter was labeled a hero by some, a maverick by others, and a spy by the Iraqi government. Ritter has had an extensive and distinguished career in government service. He is a ballistic missile technology expert who worked in military intelligence during a 12-year career in the U.S. armed forces, including assignments in the former Soviet Union and in the Middle East. In 1991, Ritter joined UNSCOM and took part in more than 30 inspection missions, 14 as chief. In 1995, his team discovered in Iraq missile guidance equipment purchased from Russia through a Palestinian agent.

In January 1998, he led the U.N. weapons inspectors back to Iraq only to blocked by Iraqi officials who accused him of being a spy. Following Iraq's decision to block further inspections, Ritter found the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council unwilling to confront Iraq's position and resigned proclaiming that the “illusion of arms control is more dangerous than no arms control at all.” His experience in enemy territory has resulted in a book, Endgame: Solving the Iraq problem Once and for All, and a film exposing the results of America's foreign policy in the Persian Gulf and the devastating effects of the United Nations economic sanctions on the people of Iraq.

The talk is sponsored by Washington College's William James Forum and Goldstein Program in Public Affairs, established in honor of the late Louis L. Goldstein, 1935 alumnus and Maryland's longest serving elected official. The Goldstein Program sponsors lectures, symposia, visiting fellows, travel and other projects that bring students and faculty together with leaders in public policy and the media.

Concert Series Hosts Violinist Jennifer Koh January 17th

Chestertown, MD, January 6, 2003 — The 51st season of the Washington College Concert Series welcomes violin virtuoso Jennifer Koh to the College's Tawes Theatre, Gibson Performing Arts Center on Friday, January 17, 2003. The concert begins at 8 p.m.

Single tickets at the door are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth and students.

Jennifer Koh has dazzled audiences with her artistry, virtuosity and musicality, and has been recognized by critics for exceptional technique, effortless style and stage presence beyond her years. Her repertoire ranges from classic works by Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Bartok and Paganini to modern concertos by Russian composer Andrey Eshpai and Finnish composer Uuno Klami.

Born in Chicago, Koh is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory. She currently studies with Jaime Laredo of Philadelphia's Curtis Institute. Since 1995, when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Koh has performed with numerous conductors and orchestras around the world, but she is also an accomplished recitalist, performing at numerous festivals and music centers. Koh's latest CD, Solo Chaconnes, was released in 2001 by Cedille Records.

For ticket information and a 2002-2003 Washington College Concert Series season brochure, call 410-778-7839. Season tickets are available for $50.00 per person, and individual tax-deductible patron sponsorships begin at $75.00. Season tickets can be purchased by check or money order through the mail from the Washington College Concert Series, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD 21620-1197.