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Somerset plans Martin Luther King Day Celebration on Jan. 18
Berea College’s Dr. Chad Berry will give keynote address
Chad Berry, Ph.D., the Goode Professor of Appalachian Studies at Berea College, will be the keynote speaker for the Annual Somerset Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration. The event will be held at Somerset High School at 2 p.m. on Sunday, January 18. His speech will be entitled: "Realizing the Dream of MLK."
Davis Chapel AME Church Pastor, Joshua Hale, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for this year’s celebration. South Maple Street First Baptist Church Pastor Bro. James Barleston will give the opening prayer, while Somerset High School Principal Jeff Perkins will provide the welcome.
Music will include the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “We Shall Overcome.” A Unity Choir made up of choirs members from several local churches. The Unity Choir will be directed by Chase Moore and accompanied Jan Smith. They will sing “Pass Me Not” and the medley, “I Want to be at the Meeting after the Separation” and “Sweet Jesus.” A duet, entitled “I Know Where I’ve Been,” will be sung by Ruth Mengistu and Shelby Skidmore.
Personal remembrances will be provided by former Oakwood employee Eva Morton; retired social worker Peggy True; and retired Somerset Postmaster John L. Perkins.
Middle school students participating in the Somerset Community College Governor’s Minority Student College Preparatory Program will provide a recitation.
According to Dr. Bill Turner, the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at Berea College, the keynote speaker, Dr. Berry, is among the people on earth today who yet seek to live out the Great Commitments of Berea College. Turner, who has visited Somerset Community College previously, said that Berry “is at the head of the line. He just doesn't ‘talk the talk’ about diversity, inclusion, justice and equality for all - he walks it!”
Berry has been at Berea College since 2006. He came to Berea College from Maryville College in Tennessee, where he taught for eleven years. He is the author of Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles, published by the University of Illinois Press. The book examines the migration of millions of white southerners to the Midwest during the twentieth century. The book was inspired by his paternal grandparents, who reluctantly left Tennessee in the 1940s, going first to Akron, Ohio, and ultimately settling in Mishawaka, Indiana, where they found jobs and the economic opportunity that had eluded them in the South.
Berry is published widely in the area of Appalachian studies and international education. Having visited 41 countries, he enjoys taking students on international study trips, including destinations such as Cuba, China, and countries in Africa.
In 2005, the East Tennessee Historical Society awarded him its Teaching Excellence Award. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was the 2006-2007 president of the Appalachian Studies Association. He is the editor of and a contributor to The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance (Illinois, 2008), a book about an important radio program from Chicago that was instrumental in the development of country music.
Berry is currently working on a project that explores the development of Appalachian Studies after World War II, as well as another project analyzing maps that Berea students drew of their home communities between 1948 and the late 1960s
Berry holds a BA Degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MA from Western Kentucky University and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. His interests include Appalachian history and culture, especially migration and global perspectives; teaching with visual imagery; and local food culture. His is a member of the American History Association, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Organization of American Historians. He served as president of the Appalachian Studies Association in 2006.
Somerset Community College is a comprehensive two-year institution of higher education. SCC has campuses in Somerset and London, centers in Clinton, McCreary, Casey and Russell Counties. The website is www.somerset.kctcs.edu. Call for admission and registration information toll free at 1-877-629-9722.
KCTCS serves the Commonwealth through 16 community and technical college districts that form a seamless system of 62 campuses open or under construction. KCTCS colleges change lives by providing accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu.
