HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2018-10-15 John Franklin event at TBL
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
October 15, 2018
Media Contact:
Betsy Arnett, Public Information Officer
barnett@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2734
John W. Franklin, with the National Museum of African
American History, to Speak at Thomas Balch Library
Leesburg, VA (October 15, 2018) – John W. Franklin
will be the guest speaker at the Thomas Balch
Library’s lecture series on Sunday, October 21, 2018.
Mr. Franklin will talk about his experience in
developing public programs on African American
history and culture and the importance of libraries
and museums to African American history and
geneaology research. The event begins at 2:00 p.m.
and is free to the public.
John W. Franklin is currently Senior Manager in the
Office of External Affairs at the National Museum of
African American History in Washington D.C. He has
worked for the Smithsonian Institute for more than
30 years in a variety of roles, including researcher for
the African Diaspora program of the Bicentennial
Folklife Festival; symposia/seminar developer for the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies; and
curator for Folklife Festival programs on the Bahamas, Cape Verde, Washington D.C., and Mali.
Franklin has served on a variety of boards and commissions, including the Maryland
Commission on African American History and Culture, the board of the Reginald Lewis Maryland
Museum of African American History and Culture, the board of the Joint Center for Political and
Economic Studies, and the Washington D.C. Commission on African American Affairs. With his
father, he edited My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin.
For more information, please call the Thomas Balch Library at 703-737-7195.
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