History-making event

Jet, Feb 25, 2008 by Vandell Cobb

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HISTORY-MAKING EVENT: Lerone Bennett Jr., historian and executive editor emeritus of EBONY Magazine, speaks on "Black History, White History and the American Dream" at the opening of Black History Month events at Chicago's DuSable Museum of African American History. Above, he reviews the museum's new exhibit "Wisdom of Words: Lerone Bennett, Jr., 'The People's Historian'" that high-lights his career and features his most notable works, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America, What Manner of Man and Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream. At right, Bennett is congratulated by DuSable officers Antoinette Wright, museum president, and Clarence Bourne, first vice-chairman of the board. Also in the exhibit are artifacts and historic photos of Bennett with Black icons, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and author Maya Angelou. Bennett, who attended Atlanta's Morehouse College with Martin Luther King Jr., started his journalism career at the Atlanta Daily World. He joined Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) in 1953 and became associate editor of EBONY Magazine in 1954 and executive editor in 1987. He assisted JPC's Founder and Publisher John H. Johnson in the preparation of his classic book, Succeeding Against the Odds. Johnson's last recorded interview, which was conducted by Bennett, is also included in the exhibit. Bennett, who calls himself "a witness participant," is 79. The exhibit runs through June 1.

JET photos by Vandell Cobb