Dr. Raymond Alvarez will present “An African American Experience in Marion County 1850s - 1940s: Harriet Wilson Whitely and Alfred Meade" at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on Tuesday, February 5 at 7:00 p.m. Alvarez will look at the lives Alfred Meade, a freed slave, and his sister-in-law, Harriet Wilson Whitely (Aunt Hat) who was the last person born into slavery in Marion County. In his presentation, Alvarez will explain how the community responded after her death in 1941 to Whitely’s life of service for a prominent family in Marion County.

This presentation is free and open to the public. The program will be followed by a light reception and members of the audience will receive a complimentary copy of Goldenseal, the magazine of traditional West Virginia life.

(304) 367-4170

Francene.Kirk@fairmontstate.edu