Join us on Feb. 4th for “Stories Our Own Way: Black History Now, Then, & Beyond” panel and the release of our new booklet!
Sunday, February 4th from 2:00-3:30, Montevallo Legacy Project is hosting a discussion with three Shelby County African American storytellers. They will talk about their lives in Black history and the different ways they make and share stories about African American experience — now, then, & beyond. The panel will take place on the Rebecca J. Luker Stage in the Center for the Arts at the University of Montevallo.
This event coincides with the release of “Untold Stories of Black Montevallo Vol. 2”. These stories initially appeared monthly in Montevallo's Chamber Chatter. From the start, we have sought to give voice and visibility to people of African descent in and around Montevallo. Some stories include dark moments in our town’s history. Taken together, however, the stories display for all to see the dignity, pride, resourcefulness, kindness, and hospitality of the African American community.
The Montevallo Legacy Project finds, preserves, and shares undertold stories of our town’s past. Our mission is to uncover legacies that light the way to a more promising future for all Montevallo citizens.
This event is sponsored by Shelby County NAACP and Montevallo AAUW. These groups last partnered with the MLP in 2023 to screen “54 Miles to Home,” a film about three farming families on the road from Selma to Montgomery who risked their lives while fighting for voting rights in 1965.
MEET THE PANELISTS
Peter Datcher
Peter Datcher is a family and community historian, who descends from enslaved families who have worked the same Harpersville farmland for six generations. In his History House, Datcher displays photographs and artifacts that tell the story of his family’s journey from enslavement to freedom to successful farmers. His extensive genealogical research keeps history alive for his family and community and gives him deeply felt knowledge of African American history in Shelby County.
Theangelo Perkins
He is the current president of The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation. The Wallace Center is converting the Wallace plantation in Harpersville into a center that promotes reconciliation, healing, and repair through arts, education, and cultural programming. His McGinnis ancestors came to the Wallace farm after emancipation and have been connected with the Wallaces over generations.
The Center provides opportunities to engage in activities that raise consciousness about race through dance, music, poetry, visual arts and education. Participants have the opportunity to acknowledge and express a painful past and move to a brighter future.
Theoangelo Perkins is now in a fourth-term as Mayor of Harpersville. He is a former teacher, a realtor, and a minister.
Elvie Schooley
Elvie Schooley is the Executive Director of DRUM the Program which is a nonprofit organization serving Central Alabama. Their mission is to provide an experience of West African drum and dance coupled with artistic and written self-expression that prime students to develop social-emotional skills for improving self-management and a sense of belonging.
Schooley is a Licensed Master Social Worker. She was born and raised in Alabaster, Alabama. Elvie left her hometown in 1986 when she joined the US Navy. She returned to Alabama after thirty years launching a nonprofit to serve those who have been underserved in the arts.
Schooley also serves as a Holistic Transformational Coach for professional women of color. The Jewels Inside is a collective approach to adopting a lifestyle toolset that supports healing, growing, and discovering one’s purpose.
MODERATED BY
Joyce Jones
In 2020, Joyce campaigned for the position of Mayor of Montevallo, AL. After building an engaging campaign of unity and inclusion for “One Montevallo,” she was able to mobilize new and disenfranchised voters in the local political process and fell short of becoming the first Black mayor of Montevallo by only a 48-vote margin. Joyce currently serves on the MLP Board of Directors as Community Engagement Liaison.
Joyce Jones is a native daughter of the City of Montevallo with family roots that extend at least four generations into this community. She is the recently appointed Director of Engaged Education and Public Service with the University of Montevallo where she works to build pathways and partnerships between students and the surrounding communities. For the past 17 years, she has helped students meet their higher educational goals at the University through her service in both the Graduate and Undergraduate Admissions Offices.
She is passionate about sharing LIGHT and LOVE with the world and makes that her daily mission in life. One of her favorite quotes is “the only weapon I have is Love and it is more than enough.” Joyce and her husband, “Pastor Mike,” currently live in a neighboring city of Montevallo and together they serve the greater Shelby County community through their ministry, partnerships, and volunteerism.