Celebrating Black History Month in Wilmington, DE

Ernest Green Interview at the Wilmington Public Library

The month of February dedicates its 28 days to recognizing and celebrating African-Americans

and honoring their contributions to society. During the month, Downtown Wilmington

businesses are hosting special events to educate, remember, and celebrate African Americans’

achievements throughout history.

The Living Legend Series

The Wilmington Public Library is hosting The Living Legend series for Black History Month.

• Ernest Green | Feb 17 

  Ernest Green is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students who, in

  1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at the segregated Little Rock

  Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Green was the first African American to

  graduate from the school in 1958.

  Green’s interview will be with CNN Commentator Bakari Sellers.

• Pam Grier | Feb 23

  Actress Pam Grier is best known for her portrayal of tough and sexy crime fighters in the

  1970s genre of “blaxploitation” films such as ‘The Big Bird Cage’, ‘Coffy’, ‘Foxy Brown’

  and ‘Sheba Baby’. Her later work in the 1998 film Jackie Brown earned her a Golden

  Globe nomination. 

  Tonya Baynes will be moderating the conversation.

Clifford Brown Year Around  | Feb 18

Rekindle the love in your life this month with Clifford Brown Year Round! On 2/18 at the

new CSC Station, enjoy performances by Maya Belardo, Nadjah Nicole, Jea Street

(and many more!) as they answer the question “How Do You Sing Love?” Buy your

tickets today!

 A virtual link will be available for those who cannot attend in person.

The Negro Spiritual: An Afternoon Event at SsAM | Feb 19

These songs have become deeply embedded in American culture and modern faith, songs whose creators — often enslaved Black Americans — have gone largely unacknowledged, their names lost to time. Featuring the Wilmington Children’s Chorus and narrated by Bebe Coker.

Free parking in the church parking lot. Click here for directions.

The event will be live-streamed for those who cannot or choose not to attend in-person here at our church. Click here to view SsAM’s YouTube Channel.

A free-will offering will be collected from those attending.

LaFate Gallery: Black History Month Diverse Perspectives | Until Feb 26

Award Winning Folk Artist, Eunice LaFate presents a month-long exhibition called “Black History Month…Diverse Perspectives.” The exhibition features art representing a range of perspectives and moments in Black History.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11AM-5PM

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Local Black-owned Businesses

Take some time this month (and all year) to shop and eat at local Black owned businesses in Downtown Wilmington. Below are a list of Black-owned businesses you can help support! 

Amity Bistro | 209 N Market St

Opened in October of 2021, enjoy classic breakfast options and American favorites for lunch and dinner. You crave it, Amity Bistro will provide.

Artzscape | 205 N Market St

Artzscape is an innovative performance and event space for theater, music, comedy, poetry, art, and social events.

Evelyn’s Soul Food | 1409 N King St 

From breakfast to dinner, Evelyn’s Soul Food has you covered. Stop by and grab some delicious soul food that’ll keep your tummy happy all day long.

Green Box Kitchen | 400 N Market St & DECO

With the goal of making healthier eating uncomplicated and easily accessible, Green Box Kitchen offers cold pressed juices, smoothies, acai bowls, buddha bowls and much more!

LaFate Gallery | 227 N Market St

Opened in 1993, LaFate Gallery presents a collection of contemporary, traditional, and folk art that reflect Caribbean and American landscapes.

Milk & Honey | 239 N Market St & 807 N Union St

A coffeehouse, gallery, and venue space, Milk & Honey is where the community gathers, and memorable events are held. Make sure to try their famous flat white and one of their many sandwich options.

Morgan’s of Delaware | 222 Delaware Ave

Dress to the nines with the help of Morgan’s of Delaware. The boutique carries a range of clothes and accessories fit for uptown elegance to downtown edge.

Tasties 302 | 825 N Market St

Tasties 302 offers a selection of mouth-watering soul food from southern fried chicken, beef short ribs, and their famous alfredo pasta. Dine-in and take-out options available. 

The Sold Firm | 800-B N Tatnall St

Founded in 2019, The Sold Firm features modern and contemporary emerging, talented visual artists. Their exhibits address a diverse range of cultural subject matters.

Kick Off a New Decade With These New Years Eve Events in Downtown Wilmington!

t’s time to say goodbye to 2019 and extend a warm, prosperous welcome to 2020. Ring in the “Roaring 20s” with all of the razzle dazzle that a new decade deserves. Celebrate New Years Eve in Downtown Wilmington DE with these festive events that are sure to start the New Year off with a bang!

1. The Green Room at Hotel Du Pont | 42 W 11th Street

   Bring in the new year in style at HOTEL DU PONT's New Year's Eve Party. Feast on a five course dinner with wine pairings in the Green Room at 8 p.m., followed by a live band, dancing, festive party favors and a Champagne toast at midnight. Cost is $190 per person; $350 per couple over 21 years of age. Call 594-3154 to reserve your spot.

2. Torbert Street Social | 305 Torbert Street

   Ring in the New Year at Torbert Street Social. DJ  William Adams from 9:00 AM-1:00 AM plus light fare & passed hors d'oeuvres, welcome punch, champagne toast, midnight pizza, photo booth, and party favors. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased here.

3. Ernest & Scott Taproom | 902 N Market Street

   Ernest & Scott Taproom in Wilmington is hosting a dance party to kick off 2020. Enjoy live music, a four-hour open bar and heavy hors d'oeuvres from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., a mini dessert bar from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., and a Champagne toast and midnight balloon drop. Price is $65 at the door and discounts are available for groups of six of more. Doors open at 9 p.m. for those 21 and older. Get more information here; for tickets, click here.

4. Stitch House Brewery | 829 N Market Street

   Ring in the New Year with a BANG! Stitch House is hosting the ultimate NYE Party featuring DJ BIS starting at 10pm. FREE to attend and includes a champagne toast. Feeling lucky? During the two balloon drops you have a chance of finding & winning a $100 gift card hidden inside a balloon. Grab your friends -- 2020 is going to be the best year yet!

5. Chelsea Tavern | 821 N Market Street

   Celebrate NYE all day long at Chelsea Tavern. Kick off the festivities with a champagne brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including a a starter, entree, dessert, and glass of champagne all for $25. Keep the party going with the $45 pre fixe dinner menu or the a la carte menu from 4 to 9 p.m. Then finish it off with light fare and dessert menus from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., complimentary champagne toast and party favors included! Call 302.482.3333 to make reservations.

6. La Fia | 421 N Market Street

   La Fia will be offering their a Five-Course Chef’s Tour for $65 per person with a complementary Prosecco toast. A truly decadent menu featuring Beef Tartare, Venison Loin, and of course, your other favorite dishes. Click here to make reservations.

7. Riverfront Rink | 308 Justison Street

   Start 2020 off with a bang at a fireworks show on the Riverfront. Horizon Services Riverfront Rink will offer skating, food and drinks from Constitution Yards Beer Garden and live music by WSTW. Fireworks begin at 9 p.m.

8. Docklands Riverfront | 110 S West Street

   Docklands Riverfront in Wilmington is hosting a New Year’s Eve, all-inclusive event on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. The event package includes a premium open bar, full dinner buffet and live entertainment. Come enjoy DJ Willoughby, DJ B-Lee, Under the Covers and It’s All Good. Tickets range from $70-$100 depending on preferred seating. Visit eventbrite.com for tickets and more information.

*Event information provided by Delaware Today and Visit Wilmington.

Remembering the Past, Celebrating the Future, FREE Events at the Delaware Historical Society

"History is who we are and why we are the way we are. History is not just the past....history is the present." 

Thanks to the Delaware Historical Society and their complimentary programming below, we can continue to educate ourselves on the present by learning from the past. 

Saturday, May 19th: Free WWI Writers Workshop

Image Credit: Timetoast.com

Saturday May 5th and Saturday May 19th are the fifth and sixth World War I-themed writing workshops. Each workshop is open to the public.  By bringing participants of different ages and backgrounds together to discover this history, the dialogue should be engaging and informative.  Each workshop session will use a specific guiding question as the theme, and feature the DHS exhibitions, The First State at the Front: WWI and the Road to Victorious Peace and Delaware, One State Many Stories.

Using World War I and America: Told by the Americans Who Lived It, the anthology published by Library of America, participants in the workshop will read and discuss selected works.  The anthology, edited by A. Scott Berg, brings together 127 pieces that tell the vivid story of battlefront and homefront, from Sarajevo and the invasion of Belgium through the sinking of the Lusitania, the Armenian genocide, the controversy over intervention, and the terrible ferocity of Belleau Wood and the Meuse-Argonne, to the League of Nations debate and the racial violence and political repression that divided postwar America.

Facilitator:  A. Myrna Nurse, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Director, Women's and Gender Studies Minor, Delaware State University

Delaware History Museum 1 PM

FREE PARKING is available courtesy of Colonial Parking on the corner of 6th and Shipley streets.

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Tuesday, May 22nd: New Direction Series Dr. Robyn C. Spencer – Author Discussion and Book Signing

Part of Wilmington 1968 programming schedule http://dehistory.org/wilmington1968

Co-sponsored by Delaware Humanities

Dr. Robyn C. Spencer, Associate Professor, Department of History at Lehman College, City University of New York, will speak on her book, The Revolution Has Come:  Black Power, Gender, and the Black Panther Party in Oakland (Duke University Press, 2016).

The presentation will be followed by a book signing.

The story of the Black Panther Party (BPP) reveals the complexity of everyday life in working-class African American communities.  Focusing on the role of black women in the Party provides an even deeper exploration of the development of community-based and public policy solutions to the problems of under-resourced schools and the impact of mass incarceration on black family life.    Spencer argues that “solutions the Panthers sought, such as community control of the police, freedom for political prisoners, and an end to poverty and war, remain central in many struggles for justice today.  Although this book centers on Oakland…the BPP’s commitment to making linkages with revolutionaries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean made it one of the most effective ambassadors for Black Power.”

Delaware History Museum 6 PM

Reservations requested

FREE parking available at 6th and Shipley Street courtesy of Colonial Parking.

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Thursday, June 7th: A Dream Deferred: Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion

Part of Wilmington 1968 programming schedule  http://dehistory.org/wilmington1968

Co-sponsored by: The Delaware Historical Society, The Delaware Art Museum, and Delaware Humanities

Join the Delaware Historical Society, Delaware Humanities, and the Delaware Art Museum for a screening of the documentary A Dream Deferred: Remembering the 1968 Occupation of the National Guard in Wilmington.  This 40-minute film, originally produced by Teleduction, Inc. in 2007, presents an oral history of this momentous chapter in Delaware history, from the perspective of political leaders in Wilmington, including Joseph Johnson, James Sills, Harry Haskell, Russell Peterson, Littleton Mitchell, Leonard Williams and Lloyd Casson.  Historical footage illustrates the impact of events from the national, such as the March on Washington, to the local, including campus protests at Delaware State University.  In the wake of Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, activists broke with the principles of non-violent resistance to proclaim the need for Black nationalism and protest the lack of change in their daily lives.

Following the documentary, a discussion will be held with a panel of individuals who experienced the civil unrest.  Their conversation will bring the events of 1968 into the present as we discuss the current state of race relations in Wilmington and in the United States.

The panel will be moderated by Simone Austin, the Delaware Art Museum’s 2017 Alfred Appel Jr. Curatorial Fellow and M.A. History Graduate Student at the University of Delaware, whose research on this period provides additional context and perspective.

Delaware History Museum 6 PM

Free Admission. Please R.S.V.P to deinfo@dehistory.org

FREE PARKING is available courtesy of Colonial Parking on the corner of 6th and Shipley streets.

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Tuesday June 12th:  New Direction Series John Thabiti Willis Author Discussion & Book Signing

John Thabiti Willis, Associate Professor in the Department of History at Carleton College and Associate Editor of the Journal of West African History, will speak on his book, Masquerading Politics: Kinship, Gender, and Ethnicity in a Yoruba Town (2017).

In West Africa, especially among Yoruba people, masquerades have the power to kill enemies, appoint kings, and grant fertility.  John Thabiti Willis takes a close look at masquerade traditions in the Yoruba town of Otta, exploring transformations in performers, performances, and the institutional structures in which masquerade was used to reveal ongoing changes in notions of gender, kinship, and ethnic identity.  As Willis focuses on performers and spectators, he reveals a history of masquerade that is rich and complex.  His research offers a more nuanced understanding of performance practices in Africa and their role in forging alliances, consolidating state power, incorporating immigrants, executing criminals, and projecting individual and group power on both sides of the Afro-Atlantic world.

Delaware History Museum 6 PM

The presentation will be followed by a book signing, and the book will be available for purchase in the museum gift shop.

FREE
Reservations requested: (302) 655-7161

FREE parking available at 6th and Shipley Street courtesy of Colonial Parking.

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Wednesday, June 27th: Vietnam Mailbag – Author Discussion with Journalist Nancy E. Lynch and Vietnam Veteran Rick Lovekin

Journalist Nancy E. Lynch, author of the award-winning book, Vietnam Mailbag, Voices From the War: 1968-1972, and Vietnam veteran Rick Lovekin  will join forces for a program at 6 p.m., June 27, 2018 at the Delaware History Museum. 

About Nancy E. Lynch:

A former staff reporter for The News Journal in Delaware, Lynch will read selected correspondence from servicemen featured in her book, based on the nearly 1,000 letters and hundreds of pictures mailed to her popular News Journal column Nancy’s Mailbag in the 1960s and 70s. For five years Nancy received correspondence from our troops on the front lines during the undeclared and polarizing war.

In her final column in December 1972 she promised “her guys” she would someday put all their war letters and pictures in a book to honor them. The 2008 Veterans Day release of her 456-page social history fulfills her pledge. The book earned a gold medal from Independent Publisher in 2009 for Best Non-Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic.

About Rick Lovekin:
A medical disability could have provided a means for Lovekin to avoid service in Vietnam, he chose instead to enlist in the Army and spent a year in combat as a door gunner on a Huey helicopter and later as crew chief on a Cobra chopper. He was based in Bien Hoa and Vung Tau with the 147th Helicopter Company.

He wrote frequently to Lynch during his 1969-1970 tour, always signing his letters, “Your Man in Nam.” He will share some of his combat experiences as well as a DVD of images from Vietnam enhanced with 1960s music. Now retired, Lovekin, formerly of New Castle County, lives in North East, MD.

FREE

Delaware History Museum 6 PM

Registration is requested at (302) 655-7161

FREE PARKING is available courtesy of Colonial Parking on the corner of 6th and Shipley Streets.

This presentation is sponsored by the Delaware Historical Society and is underwritten by Delaware Humanities.

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Follow the Delaware Historical Society

Facebook: @DEHistory

Instagram: @DelawareHistoricalSociety

Twitter: @thisisdehistory

Sponsor the Cinco De Mayo Festival & Save the Date!

Save the date! Friday, May 4th 2018 from 5:00-10:00 PM is the Cinco de Mayo Festival on Market Street, hosted by Ernest & Scott Taproom and Chelsea Tavern. Last year's event was a success with over 1,300 guests in attendance. 

Individuals from all over the city joined in the fun to celebrate the cultural experience complete with live music, delicious Hispanic food and signature drinks. This year the crowd is expected to be even larger! If you are a business near the Market Street corridor and would like exposure during the event, sponsorship information is located here. 

We look forward to seeing you at the event and celebrating with you!

Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation Presents the Annual Dickinson Memorial

Join historian Dick Carter on February 17th to learn more about our local Founding Father on this 250th Anniversary of his writings "Letters from a Farmer." Dickinson descendant Evelyn Swenssen will be performing his Liberty Song, Mayor Purzycki is slated to read the eulogy and a beautiful wreath by Quaker Hill florist Flowers by Tino will laid at Dickinson's grave in the Wilmington Friends cemetery.  All are welcome to attend this event presented by the Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation. 

The Facebook event can be found here.

The Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation is Historic Preservation & Education non-profit dedicated to sharing and preserving the vital history of the Quaker Hill Historic District in the heart of downtown Wilmington. Free Underground Railroad Workshops, field trips, tours, publications and more are part of their efforts. 

The team of individuals are devoted to ensuring the neighborhood still retains a diverse architectural character, inherited from the 1978 designation of Quaker Hill as a National Register Historic District. Recent renovation and restoration of remaining structures, coupled with the construction of new housing, give definite signs of a revitalization of Quaker Hill.

Interested in joining the preservation efforts of this neighborhood? Contact them at the Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation (www.quakerhillhistoric.org)