Sponsored by the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum, the event goes on from 11 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. in the Shawkey Room of the Memorial Student Center.
“1968 was an incredible year, as famous for its lows as its highs,” said Burnis Morris, Carter G. Woodson professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and cofounder of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum. “Many journalists and other observers, and bystanders who lived through that period, consider it a pivotal year in our nation’s history.
“Journalists recorded the major events of that year — including the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy, civil rights, women’s rights, sports, riots and war,” Morris said. “Sometimes the journalists covered them well, but too often our profession got these stories wrong, simply mirroring or participating in the wrongs the young people of that era were trying to correct. Our speakers will relive 1968 with highlights and flashbacks, with both joy and sadness.”
Speakers include:
- Special guest Dr. Thomas J. Hrach, an associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis;
- Janet Dooley, professor and director of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, who will discuss “Women in 1968”;
- Burnis Morris, Carter G. Woodson professor of journalism and mass communications and cofounder of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Lyceum, who will share an “Overview of 1968”;
- Jennifer Sias, professor of journalism at Marshall, who will discuss Louis “Studs” Terkel, who is considered by many to be the father of American oral history.
- Christopher Swindell, a Marshall professor of journalism with a focus on filmography, who will discuss “At the Movies,” or the representations of culture from movies in that era.
- Rob Rabe, professor of journalism at Marshall, who will discuss the New Journalism movement in 1968.
The Carter G. Woodson Lyceum is supporting the event. Although Woodson, a former Huntington educator known as the father of black history, had been dead since 1950, King’s death in 1968 revived interest in black history, creating programs at schools and universities across the country, Morris said.
“Wednesday’s event will be the second time the School of Journalism and Mass Communications has revisited 1968,” Morris said. “The first time was during the year’s 40th anniversary. We had an overflow crowd. We have several new faculty members now and probably few students who were enrolled here in 2008. Still, we won’t be repeating ourselves. Our ideas are fresh.”