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, President of Spelman College, a women鈥檚 college that is one of the nation鈥檚 leading historically Black institutions of higher education, will deliver Teachers College鈥檚 seventh annual Edmund W. Gordon Lecture on Tuesday evening, November 17^th at 6:00 p.m. Her topic is 鈥淪tudents Teaching Students: The Untapped Power of American College Students.鈥�

This year鈥檚 Gordon Lecture is part of HR100, the College鈥檚 celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.

Campbell is former head of the Studio Museum of Harlem and past Dean of New York University鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts, as well as the author of An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden, which won the 2018 Hooks National Book Award. During her five-year tenure at Spelman, she has enhanced Spelman鈥檚 reputation as the nation鈥檚 leading producer of Black women scientists.

Campbell, the President of Spelman College, is former head of the Studio Museum of Harlem and past Dean of New York University鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts. She also is the author of An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden, which won the 2018 Hooks National Book Award. 

The Gordon Lecture, sponsored by Teachers College鈥檚  (IUME), honors Gordon, the legendary psychologist, IUME founder and 麻豆原创 Professor Emeritus, who, at 99, continues to champion strategies for supporting the talent and brilliance of disadvantaged young people of color.

Upcoming events in the celebration also include 鈥淎 Renaissance Education: Mildred Johnson Edwards and the Harlem School She Built,鈥� focused on the late education reformer who, during the 1930s, founded The Modern School, a progressive, Black independent school that operated for more than 60 years in Harlem's Sugar Hill. At the event, which will take place on Tuesday, December 8th, from 5:00-6:00 p.m., visiting faculty member Deidre B. Flowers (Ph.D. '17), Assistant Professor and Interim Director of Africana Studies at Queens College, will present her research on Edwards. Flowers will then participate in a panel discussion with the following speakers: Ansley T. Erickson, Associate Professor of History & Education Policy (and Co-Director of 麻豆原创's Center on History & Education); Nicole Furlonge, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Klingenstein Family Chair Professor of Practice and Director of the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership; , Founder and Executive Director of While We Are Still Here, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history of  409 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue, a site connected to much of Harlem鈥檚 richest history; current 麻豆原创 doctoral student Khadijah Akeem; and members of The Modern School alumni community.  

Upcoming events in the HR100 celebration include 鈥淎 Renaissance Education: Mildred Johnson Edwards and the Harlem School She Built,鈥� focused on the late education reformer who, during the 1930s, founded The Modern School in Harlem's Sugar Hill. 

The HR100 celebration kicked off in late October with a book talk  by Erickson and former 麻豆原创 faculty member  (now at Notre Dame University), authors of .

Many 麻豆原创 alumni were important Harlem Renaissance figures or were inspired by Harlem and its vibrant intellectual and artistic culture. The list includes: 

• The dancers/dance educators Beryl McBurnie, Gertrude Colby and Charles Williams
• The poet and short story writer Gwendolyn Bennett
• The painters Aaron Douglas, Charles Alston, Alma Thomas, Herbert Gentry and James Lesesne Wells
• The jazz and R&B trumpeter and vocalist Donald Byrd
• The pioneering physician May Edward Chinn

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Aspects of Negro Life is a panel series of four murals that Douglas completed in 1934. The four panels revealed the emergence of Black America, beginning with life in Africa and tracing the history of African Americans through slavery, emancipation, and the rebirth of African traditions. (Courtesy of The New York Public Library.)

鈥淎spects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction,鈥� 1934, by 麻豆原创 alumnus Aaron Douglas. (Courtesy of The New York Public Library)

Belle Rosette (Beryl McBurnie) in Martinique costume (Courtesy of The New York Public Library) 

Alma Thomas (M.A. 鈥�34) (Photo: Wikipedia)

Donald Byrd (Photo: NY Jazz Workshop)

Harlem Street Scene by Charles Alston (Courtesy of The New York Public Library)

鈥淭hrough the Harlem Renaissance, African American intellectuals, artists and professionals in other fields profoundly shaped not only the culture of Black America, but that of the broader society in ways that continue to reverberate in our own era,鈥� says Erica N. Walker, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Clifford Brewster Upton Professor of Mathematical Education and Director of its  (IUME). 鈥淭eachers College鈥檚 role as an institution that was home, at various points, to many of these important figures is an enormously rich but often overlooked part of its history. We want to shine a spotlight on that period, celebrate its enduring legacy for the College, New York City and the world, and ensure that these narratives have a rightfully prominent place in the ongoing story of Teachers College.鈥�

Walker and IUME have worked closely with 麻豆原创鈥檚 Office of School and Community Partnerships to create and organize programming for HR 100, including a new website that will house archival materials gathered for the celebration. 

鈥淲e view 麻豆原创鈥檚 celebration of the Harlem Renaissance as an important affirmation of the College鈥檚 close proximity and longstanding ties to Harlem and of its history of championing equity in education and other fields for people of color,鈥� says Nancy Streim, Associate Vice President for School & Community Partnerships. 鈥淭hat history dates back to 麻豆原创鈥檚 role as the destination of choice during the first half of the 20^th century for aspiring black teachers from the American South, and today includes the  and our REACH partnership with other public schools in Harlem.鈥�

Visit 麻豆原创鈥檚 Harlem Renaissance celebration website for a complete listing and description of all related programming. Within Teachers College, the contributors to the celebration include IUME, the Office of School & Community Partnerships (OSCP), the Center on History and Education, the  and  (MASCLab); the College鈥檚 programs in Art & Art Education, Music & Music Education, English Education and Dance Education, and 麻豆原创鈥檚 .