David Nicholson grew up hearing stories about Mama and Papa, as his great-grandparents were called within the family. Only later in life, however, when he inherited a trove of letters and documents from his mother, did he begin in earnest to recover his family’s history in Columbia, SC. His book, The Garretts of Columbia, is the product of years of research in archives and online, as well as a remarkable family story. It begins with the enslaved ancestor who bought freedom for himself, his wife and two of his children, and leads to Papa, a college professor and editor of three newspapers, and Mama, a supervisor of rural Black schools. Nicholson will talk with Genius Black, A.K.A Jerry Edwards, host of the podcast “Maine’s Black Future,” about the challenges and rewards of preserving the history of ordinary, extraordinary people in a world that too often chooses to forget.
Free event
David Nicholson, born in Washington, D.C., has worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, and as an editor and daily book reviewer for The Washington Post Book World. After earning an MFA at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Nicholson returned to Washington, where he started a magazine, Black Film Review. He is the author of three books, most recently The Garretts of Columbia: A Black South Carolina Family from Slavery to the Dawn of Integration (University of South Carolina Press, 2024). He and his wife live in Vienna, Virginia.
Genius Black, also known as Jerry Edwards, is a social innovator, podcast host, and grant writer based in Maine.
Genius curates a collaborative collective of musical talent, GEM CITY Maine. He holds a degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, and was a founding Co-Director of Black Owned Maine. He is the father of two, 17 and 20 years old. He produces and hosts Maine’s Black Future podcast with the Maine Monitor, focusing on historic and current influential Black Mainers. The podcast was awarded a multi-generational ‘Grants for Change’ award in 2023, and Genius was named the Maine Arts Commission Media Arts Fellow for 2024.
Genius is a Media and Communications Organizer for TheThirdPlace, a Portland Media Center and Portland Ovations board member, and he honorably served as Emcee for the Maine Immigration Forum’s inaugural event in 2023. Genius recently joined News Center Maine as a political analyst, appearing on the state-wide “Political Brew” talk show. He is also the Digital Media Coordinator for the Maine Humanities Council