Dr. Clayborne Carson What can be learned from years of studying the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the U.S. civil rights movement? Why is it important that Dr. King's activities and impact in Savannah, Southeast Georgia, and other communities be more thoroughly documented and understood so that we have a complete picture of the national civil rights movement?

These are two of the many questions that noted King scholar Dr. Clayborne Carson will address on his visit to Savannah and to is supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Dorchester Academy in Midway on November 13- 14, 2009.

Carson, professor of history and founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute at Stanford University, has recently been named Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta and serves as Executive Director of the Morehouse King Collection. His visit to Savannah is sponsored by the project “Building Capacity of African American Museums” which Library Services.

Dr. Carson will speak in the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum (460 Martin Luther King Boulevard at 6 pm on Friday, November 13th.

The Museum will remain open between 5pm and 6pm for audience members who have not toured the exhibits. On Saturday morning from 9-12 am, Dr. Carson will visit Dorchester Academy in Midway, GA (8787 East Oglethorpe Highway) where Dr. King trained civil rights workers for several campaigns.

Savannah State University (SSU) serves as host for the $149,700 grant from IMLS. According to project director Dr. Ronald Bailey, seven institutions participate in the collaboration: the SSU Archives; the Beach Institute African American Culture Center and the King-Tisdell Cottage; the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum; the First African Baptist Church Museum; the Dorchester Academy Museum in Midway, and the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center in Portal.

The main objective is to provide professional development opportunities for museum staff. Activities have included an Afro-American Museum Roundtable for ongoing professional development; and membership, attendance and presentations at several national, regional, and local conferences, including the African American Museums Association, the Southeastern Museums Associations, and the Georgia Association of Museum and Galleries.