On Saturday, February 1, at 10:30 a.m. the Delaware Public Archives will commemorate African American History Month with a special program led by Dr. Donald Blakey.  In 1953, Dr. Jerome H. Holland was hired as the new President of Delaware State College. Dr. Holland had three sources of student recruitment – out of state, Wilmington’s Howard High School and Delaware State College’s High School. Coming to the rescue of the struggling college were many of the graduates of the newly formed county comprehensive high schools for African Americans and Native Americans. These schools were William. C. Jason (Sussex County), William H. Henry (Kent County) and Louis L. Redding (New Castle County). The graduates of these schools provided a continuous and highly important flow of student traffic to sustain the important efforts set in motion for Delaware State College by Dr. Holland. The intent of this program is to interact with former students of the schools in order to explore and capture valued experience gained within their home institutions and Delaware State College. These recorded memories will provide a permanent record to be available to current and future scholars.

 

A native of Washington D.C., Dr. Donald Blakey has been an active member of the Dover area community for many years. After graduating from Delaware State College in 1958, Blakey went on to earn his master’s degree and eventually his Doctorate. He served as a Physical Education Instructor & a Baseball Coach at Delaware State College before joining the Caesar Rodney School District as Assistant Principal at the High School and Director of Pupil Transportation for the District. An aviation enthusiast, he was a FAA certified commercial, instrument, multi-engine rated pilot who flew with Dover Air Trans, Inc. For more than 25 years Blakey served his community as a member of Kent County Levy Court and the State House of Representatives. He currently works as the Director and principal writer for DonDel Theater Co. in Dover.

 

The program is free to the public and will last approximately one hour.  No reservations are required.  For more information, contact Tom Summers (302) 744-5047 or e-mail thomas.summers@delaware.gov

 

 

 

The short backstory: A proud Italian-American whose roots in America start in 1903, my work on a memoir required me to take a deep dive into my personal history, my ancestors, and the history of the United States over the past century. After 6 years of research and work on the memoir I took a chance I could find others interested in ancestry, the history of the US, and promote intergenerational communication and transfer.

 

An educator with 30 years of experience, I designed and offered the Ancestry & You Series. Most of the attendees were Italian-Americans whose ancestors came to America through Ellis Island from 1892 through the early 1920s. Over and over I heard different versions of: “Why didn’t we ask Momma?” “Why didn’t we take the time to learn more?”   “I miss the closeness of la famiglia.” “My children don’t feel the same way.”

 

*Discussions with several attendees of the Ancestry programs led to the kick-off of an Italian-American heritage group [October 15, 2019] at Lewes Library. Forty attended and completed an interest form to determine if the Italian-American community will share skills, resources, and support a new organization. The short answer is a resounding yes. Contact antipasti2019@yahoo.com  for the complete report and with any questions.

 

It’s been very rewarding to share the history of the Italian diaspora, growing-up Italian, and cultural inheritances. I’ve integrated what I learned from my research and the feedback from the Ancestry series into my manuscript, which I plan to publish Spring 2020. Stay tuned for further developments!

 

 

Jo-Ann Vega

 

 

 

 

Let us know .. OK?   Send your suggestions to Webmaster@SCGSDelaware.org

 

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