Story of Wrightsville Museum Topic of Black History Program Feb. 15 at DSLCC
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Clifton Forge, VA (Jan. 31, 2017) - Dr. Calvin McClinton, a native of Covington and founder of the Wrightsville Heritage Museum, will be the featured speaker for Black History Month at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College on Wednesday, February 15. The program, entitled “Preserving the American Past—A Portrait of Wrightsville”, begins at 11:30 am in Moomaw Center on the Clifton Forge campus.
“I want to excite and energize students today about learning about their family history to know where we come from so we better understand where we are going,” says Dr. McClinton, president of the McClinton Foundation.
The Wrightsville Museum, which opened in 2009, is a repository for artifacts and history of African American families of Wrightsville and local communities throughout the Alleghany Highlands. It is located in the community of Wrightsville in Covington, and housed in the home previously owned by Robert (Bob) Wilson and Lenora Hunter. The building, which dates to the late 1800s, served as an inn and boarding house. Later, it was sold and owned by several families who lived in or moved to the Wrightsville community.
The museum houses memorabilia and artifacts from various African American families in and around the area of the late 1800’s to the present. Primary to the collection are personal items from the founders of Wrightsville, Archie and Mary Wright, acquired from the McElwee farm where Archie and Mary were servants. One of the items is a first edition book of poetry by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, “Candle-Lightin’ Time”, which was used by Mary Wright to teach one of the McElwee children to read. Also in the collection are the paintings of Cleveland Wilson, many of which have never been seen by the public, as well as artifacts from various families of the Wrightsville community, African American owned businesses at the turn of the century and antiques held in Black homes of the last century, along with information on the founding of Wrightsville Baptist Church. The museum also features in a rotating exhibit the works of local, regional and national artist, along with its permanent exhibits.
Dr. McClinton, an international music theatre specialist, has taught theatre and musical theatre studies at several institutions of higher learning, including Lake Michigan College, Kent State University, Howard University and the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, Romania.
He has performed in a number of venues, including the Michigan Opera Theatre, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and the premiere of an opera composed by an English composer, “Dustin and the Devil.” He has taught and worked with a number of celebrities, including Jessica Biel, Avery Brooks and Debbie Allen, among others. He has directed several plays and musicals, including “Godspell” and “Hair”.
In addition to the museum and foundation, he is the founder and president of the McClinton Musical Theatre Arts Foundation in Romania.
In 2003 his new music theatre work “HA, the musical” premiered at the American Center in Bucharest and in 2005 a concert version A Tale from Romania at the Kent State University Museum. In 2013 his Wrightsville Suite for Piano was premiered at the Wrightsville Renewal Festival.
He is a member of the Fulbright Association, American Choral Directors Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, The Society of Composers, Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers, and Association of Disciple Musicians. Dr. McClinton is author of “The Work of Vinnette Carroll an African American Theatre Artist”, a leading Black artist in the musical theatre world along with several articles published by national and international journals.
For more information about the Black History program at DSLCC, which is free and open to the public, contact Student Activities at (540) 863-2828. | | | | | |
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