September History Happy Hour: The Little Lives of Nicodemus: A Look at African American Children during the Reconstruction Period

Speaker: Dr. Flordeliz Bugarin, Howard University

$15.00 in advance online, $20.00 at the door non-members, $15.00 museum members

Beer, wine, and appetizers

This talk will look at the lives of children from Nicodemus, an all black town established in Kansas during the Reconstruction period.  Through a description of their toys, parts of their clothing, and other items that they possessed, we can gain a glimpse of their daily lives.  By piecing together oral traditions and testimonies, written accounts, and artifacts, we can understand what it was like for a child to grow up in the Midwest.  What was Christmas like for the Nicodemus children?  What were their experiences when they went to school?  What did they eat?  These are the questions that children who visit the site today have asked.  This presentation will provide some answers in addition to sharing many pictures that illustrate the history of African American children from Nicodemus.

Dr. Flordeliz Bugarin is a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C.  She teaches anthropology and specializes in historical archaeology.  Her research focuses on Africa and the African Diaspora with a special interest in the material world of children from the past.

Thank you to Red Hawk Fire & Security for their sponsorship and support of this program.