The Association for the Study of African American Life and History Announces
ITS FIRST ANNUAL STUDENT POSTER CONTEST
For Students in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties in South Carolina
THEME: “AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE VOTE”
CALL FOR DIGITAL POSTER SUBMISSIONS
The 104th annual meeting and conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) will take place in North Charleston, South Carolina on October 2-6, 2019, with the theme of “Black Migrations.” The mission of ASALH is to promote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, history, and culture to the global community. The annual meeting and conference provide an opportunity for students, scholars, and lay persons to come together and fulfill our mission.
At this year’s annual meeting and conference, middle and high school students in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties in South Carolina will have the opportunity to participate in a Student Poster Contest on Friday, October 4, 2019 at the Youth Day Program at Charleston Southern University’s gymnasium in North Charleston. To participate in the Student Poster Contest, students must submit digital poster designs and a paragraph describing how the poster addresses the 2020 ASALH Black History Month theme “African Americans and the Vote.”
The 2020 theme emphasizes the historic struggle of African-American citizens to gain and use the right to vote to improve their quality of life and change America. In a 1957 speech, Dr. Martin Luther King stated: “Give us the vote and we will change the South!” His statement reflected how African Americans have used the right to vote guaranteed under the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution to promote public education, advocate for civic reform, run for public office, and fight for social and political change in American society. Of all the constitutional guarantees, for African Americans, the right to vote has been essential. In addition to asking students to consider the historic struggle of African Americans for the right to vote, this year’s poster contest theme also focuses student attention on the importance of the 2020 national election.
Judges will select 25 posters in each category (middle and high school) for presentation at the conference. Students whose posters are selected for presentation will receive support for their travel to the conference and free registration for the conference.
Judges will award scholarships to the three best posters in both the middle school and high school categories in the following amounts:
1st Place = $500
2nd Place = $250
3rd Place = $100
All participants in the Student Poster Contest will receive a Certificate of Participation from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. In addition, all of the student posters selected by the judges for presentation at the Conference will be posted on the ASALH website at www.asalh.org.
Please review the submission guidelines prior to submitting a poster design and paragraph description.
GUIDELINES: Student posters must address and outline some aspect of the 2020 Black History Month theme of “African Americans and the Vote.” (Examples: The Impact of the Fifteenth Amendment, The Voting Rights Act, The Impact of Disfranchisement Methods in the South, Voting Rights Cases, etc.) The actual posters should not be larger than 4 feet by 6 feet. A digital file of the poster and the descriptive paragraph should be submitted by email to: [email protected], and include the student’s name, address, phone number, email address, and the name of the school that s/he is attending. Students may also submit the digital files of their posters on a jump or thumb drive to Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney, P. O. Box 973, DeSoto, Texas 75123.
KEY DATES related to the poster submission process: The deadline for the submission of the digital poster design and the paragraph description is 11:59 PM on Friday, September 13, 2019. Judges will review and select the posters for presentation at the ASALH Conference and notify students of their selection by September 20, 2019.
For more information, contact: Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney, ASALH Student Poster Contest Chair, 817.406.8443