by Jennifer

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, The Greene Space presented From Emancipation to the Great Migration, an evening of discussion and performances that is available online at: The Greene Space.

The event included Dr. Khalil Muhammad (Director of The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture) and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Dr. Eric Foner (Columbia University History Department), among others.

It also featured a performance by internationally-renowned bass-baritone Kevin Maynor, accompanied by Tuffus Zimbabwe.  Maynor joins the conversation at 41:50 and shortly thereafter sings the aria “Still In Their Chains” from Ulysses Kay’s opera “Frederick Douglass”.  Maynor had premiered the title role in the New Jersey Opera production of Kay’s last opera in 1991.

The event will also air as a special on Saturday, February 16th at 2pm on AM 820 and Sunday, February 17th at 9pm, 2013 on WNYC 93.9FM.

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library is home to the papers of Ulysses Kay, including the manuscript full score of “Frederick Douglass”.  A full Ulysses Kay web exhibition is forthcoming in the Library’s web exhibitions program.  Announcements about its launch will be posted here.