Black History Month Programs at OCPL

The Oconee County Public Library will be holding two special programs in recognition of Black History Month.  On February 6, Sharon Cooper-Murray presents “Rag Quilting of the Indigo, Rice, and Cotton Plantations of the Lowcountry” at the Walhalla Library at 2:30pm.  She will demonstrate the folk tradition of rag quilting through storytelling, and the audience will have the chance to experience this social gathering tradition through hands-on activities. The Humanities Council, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, sponsors this event. On February 20, Helen Rosemond-Saunders will be at the Westminster Library at 4pm for a presentation on the Retreat Rosenwald School.  The school was instrumental to African-Americans living in rural Westminster from 1923 to 1950, serving as the hub of their community during those years.  In 2012, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  Rosemond-Saunders, chairwoman of the Retreat Rosenwald School Committee, will discuss the school’s important history and the committee’s plans to restore the historic schoolhouse and create a museum on the site.