Songs from the Struggle: An Evening of Music with Mary D. Williams

Join us at Chapel Hill Public Library as we welcome acclaimed gospel singer Mrs. Mary D. Williams for an educational evening of performance and participation.  Mrs. Williams, recognized as one of the best gospel singers in the country, will sing protest songs from the Civil Rights Era and examine their connections to the Slavery Era and the Negro spirituals of that time.  Mary will ask the audience to participate as she teaches how to sing the songs and how to use music to understand our shared history.

Mary has traveled to more than 40 colleges and universities, more than 30 public schools, over 100 churches, a dozen libraries, and seven public school teachers’ institutes, offering week-long training sessions for teachers. She has taught, along with friend and colleague Dr. Timothy B. Tyson, a community-based college course, “The South in Black and White: History, Culture and Politics in the 20^th Century South,” for the past six years. She currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.

Tuesday, October 14, 7:00 pm
Chapel Hill Public Library, Meeting Room B