Lectured at Abilene Christian University’s Colloquium in Race & Media in Abilene, Texas; Will Graduate with a Second Master's Degree in December 2024 as a Historian-Journalist I am pleased to announce that I was the guest lecturer Sept. 13-15, 2024, at the Abilene Christian University Department of Journalism and Mass Communication’s 23rd Colloquium in Race & Media. During this 3-day higher education conference, I led 33 students through a fast-paced history of Jim Crow segregation, laws, racial violence, and discrimination, as well as an understanding of the significance of the nation’s first African American barber college chain, Tyler Barber College. The colloquium features academics and media professionals of color as guest lecturers. In order to graduate, all ACU journalism and mass communication majors must take this course two times.Invited by Dr. Doug Mendenhall
I drew upon my research about Tyler Barber College Chain, founded in Tyler, Texas, during the Great Depression. The late Texas African American millionaire, barber, businessman, and social justice activist, H.M. Morgan, founded Tyler Barber College, which had locations in Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, New York, and Illinois. I used a curated reading list of journalism, scholarly articles, and presented live and recorded interviews of African American subject matter experts from Abilene. They were Floyd Miller, publisher of the West Texas Tribune, his wife, Marilyn, and one of his daughters, Sienna Miller. Two Abilene entrepreneurs appeared via recorded Zoom video: Joyce Ayers, owner of NeeCee's Barber and Cosmetology College, and Gerald Wilkerson, business owner of Wilkerson's Barbershop.Second Master’s Degree 'in the Can'
Additionally, I am announcing my forthcoming M.A. in History degree! The Commencement is scheduled in December 2024. In August 2021, I began graduate history studies at the University of Texas at Arlington and transferred to UNT in August 2022. I pursued this new academic path at the behest of the late Dr. Charlie Marler, who was one of my mentors and my former media law professor at ACU, my first alma mater.I previously earned a Master of Arts in Journalism Administration from the University of Memphis under the leadership of Dr. Dan Lattimore and Dr. David Arant, professors emeriti, who chaired the Department of Journalism.Learn More:
|
I attended the June 1, 2022, Celebration of Life service (download the searchable .PDF). I offered my condolences to Peggy Marler and the rest of Dr. Charlie Marler’s family and colleagues at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Each speaker trumpeted Marler's commitment to his family, academic scholarship, his faith, and the Abilene community through meaningful anecdotes and his favorite scripture in Philippians. I plan to post the text of some of the speakers' remarks as I receive them. |
Furthermore, this week, I visited ACU’s Journalism and Mass Communication Department to search for healing of my grief through conversations with members of the JMC community and to celebrate my days as a former KACU announcer/JMC student. Meeting some of the current students and staff, as well as touring classrooms, offices, ACUTV, and the Morris+Mitchell student agency contributed to my healing journey. As the first Black person and the first woman to receive ACU's Gutenberg Award, which Marler created, touching familiar ground was a smart step.
Additionally, I advanced my graduate history studies by meeting with two ACU librarians, Melinda Isbell and Laura Baker. They steered me to a wealth of resources and academic research strategies. Their invaluable guidance advanced my goal to fulfill Marler’s wish that I become a historian, specializing in African American history in Texas.
Moreover, due to a series of unplanned events, I met an ACU staffer, Evan Steele, who went out of his way to support my goals to honor Marler’s legacy, and also, become a Texas historian. Steele offered support and great foreign-language study tips, which will help me prepare for forthcoming Spanish exams for graduate school.
All in all, I received an ocean of comfort from so many people, including Susan Perry, a long-time Abilene friend who alerted me to Marler's illness, which she found out about in an email from the University Church of Christ. I am so thankful to that church for its quick email blast. Additionally, I appreciate Susan for her fast communication to me, and to her brother, Greg Perry, for his support. If it had not been for them, I would not have known Marler was sick!
Subsequently, this week was filled with overwhelming grief and loss. Nevertheless, I am navigating through the grief and charting new paths forward. Most of all, I am excited about the new people and resources that came into my life during my time in Abilene. I believe Marler had a hand in it.
Previous post in the series: Mourning the Death of Dr. Charlie Marler, My ACU Professor and Mentor
From Journalism to African American History in Texas
Download my map quiz here.
I listened and am almost finished with my first semester. Returning to graduate school was definitely the right step. The courses are intellectually satisfying and I am well-suited to part-time graduate work.
Watch video of Dr. Marler discussing libel.
Narrative: The heart of history and journalism
One of the reasons Dr. Marler advised me to consider graduate work in history is because he had studied "journalism and Black history at the University of Missouri-Columbia," which he wrote about in my recommendation letter. I was so impressed that he had studied Black history in graduate school. He also shared that well-known axiom, "Journalism is the first rough draft of history."
When I graduated with my M.A. in Journalism Administration degree from the University of Memphis, I sensed I would return to a university to learn more about the art and craft of the narrative. This time, I am aiming for a doctorate in history because of the abundant overlooked, underreported, and forgotten African American history in Texas content yet to be discovered, researched, and published. I look forward to one day researching, writing and teaching that history on all platforms, in and outside of academia. Meanwhile, I keep helping organizations and clients tell important stories while enjoying a new take on a familiar ride.
Read my other UTA graduate school recommendations:
- Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin
- Matt Joyce
- Dr. Dan Lattimore
- Listen to Dr. Leonard Moore, who is the author of "Teaching Black History to White People" and also the George Littlefield Professor of American History at UT-Austin, speaking on KERA Radio 11.08.21.
In Dallas, an exhibition of iconic civil rights photographs showing through Memorial Day 2021
5/29/2021
‘The Fight for Civil Rights in the South’ is on display through Memorial Day, May 31, 2021, at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.
By Regina L. Burns
“We were searching for an exhibit that highlighted some seminal events in the fight for civil rights in the United States and connected to the African American history section in our American Ideals Reality Repair Gallery,” Museum President and CEO Mary Pat Higgins said. “The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had these two wonderful exhibitions available, so we put them together and added original artifacts and additional historical material to create a unified whole.”
The exhibition includes some African American Museum of Dallas works dating to the Jim Crow South, according to Higgins.
Martin’s photographs pinpointed the violence of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when nonviolent marchers were beaten by state troopers in Alabama as they stood up for voting rights. His images also documented the other two Selma to Montgomery marches held that same month. Photographs of civil rights legends, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, Andrew Young and John Lewis, among many others, were also included.
Joseph Postiglione’s photographs showed the horror Freedom Riders experienced when their Greyhound bus was “set on fire by members of the Ku Klux Klan,” according to the exhibition’s notes. The Freedom Riders were protesting segregated public transportation in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, 1961. “Postiglione caught the Freedom Riders in the immediate aftermath [of the firebombing], their clothes ashen, their faces distraught, and the flames and smoke from the bus in plain view,” according to the exhibition’s notes.
Each collection’s 48 photographs transport visitors to the segregated 1960s and the battle for civil rights. Other standouts include a comprehensive timeline and excerpts of Dr. King’s powerful speech, "How Long? Not Long." The exhibition is on display through Memorial Day. For tickets and more information, check out DHHRM.org.
LEARN MORE:
Regina’s Blog
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
U.S. Civil Rights Trail
Our God is Marching On!
#MLK: How Long? Not Long!
The Heinous 1961 KKK Attack on the Freedom Riders
Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961
Freedom Rides
Copyright © May 29, 2021, Regina L. Burns, Harvest Reapers Communications.
All Rights Reserved.
|
About the Author:
Regina L. Burns, M.A., M.A., is a Dallas, Texas-based rising historian and award-winning multimedia journalist at Harvest Reapers Communications. She specializes in 20th century Texas African American Business History, specifically Tyler Barber College Chain, the nation’s first African American barber college chain founded by Texas African American millionaire, H. M. Morgan (Henry Miller Morgan).
Learn more
Archives
December 2024
September 2024
January 2024
July 2023
May 2023
March 2023
February 2023
October 2022
June 2022
May 2022
November 2021
August 2021
June 2021
May 2021
January 2021
November 2020
October 2019
March 2019
January 2019
March 2018
June 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
November 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
January 2016
November 2015
September 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
September 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011