West Virginia Culture & History
Contact: Caryn S. Gresham
Feb. 3, 2017
For Immediate Release

Fifth Annual Black History Month Celebration of Diversity Program to be Held at the Culture Center

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The 5th annual Black History Month Celebration of Diversity program will be held on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017 at 4 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. A reception in the Great Hall will immediately follow.
The program is sponsored by the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, the Martin Luther King, Jr. State Holiday Commission (MLKSHC) and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
The Celebration of Diversity will be presided over by Patricia Wilson, the chair of the education department for West Virginia State University and MLKSHC Awards Committee chair, along with a welcome from West Virginia Division of Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith.
First Lady Cathy Justice will speak during the event. In addition to the first lady, speakers will include Rev. Jerry R. Staples, pastor for Liberty Missionary Baptist Church; Tia Welch, senior pastor for Heart of God in Charleston and business community liaison for Charleston Job Corps Center; and Emma Wilson, branch manager of the Charleston branch office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Panther Pride Ensemble of the Charleston Job Corps Choir also will perform during the program. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information about the Black History Month Celebration of Diversity program, contact Dr. William M. White, executive director of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs, at (304) 558-3179.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the Office of the Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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