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Hearing Historic Voices: Dramatically Reading Black Historical Rhetoric as an Educational and Diversity Tool

Fri, Sep 29, 12:00 to 1:45pm, Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, Floor: 4th Floor, Caprice 3--AV Room

Abstract

Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln educated themselves and became eloquent speakers largely from the influence of one book, Caleb Bingham’s The Columbian Orator (1797). They knew the value of reading historical rhetoric. In undergraduate learning communities that fully integrate American history and public speaking, diverse students read aloud for audiences—notably to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, Constitution Day, and Black or Women’s History Months—the words of African Americans and other social justice seekers. The instructors excerpted these words from years of research in a wide variety of sources, many unknown or unappreciated, and organized them into scripts that represent historical trajectories. Students understand historical personages by orally conveying their struggles and successes. They are moved and move others. They become inspired and culturally aware. This paper and presentation by the instructor team will provide Black history resources in particular. They will offer methods, guidelines, sample excerpts, and recommended sources to adapt this classic educational tool for a broad population of people unaware of their own or each other’s inspirational historic rhetoric.

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