Explore Great Migration Folkways & Food at the Ocean County Library Waretown Branch

WARETOWN – When African Americans left the rural South for the northern and western United States, what rituals and rations sustained them and kept them centered? Join us for a special Black History Month program, “Food and Folks of the Great Migration,” at the Ocean County Library Waretown Branch, 12 PM Saturday, February 8.

Famed South Jersey storyteller Michelle Washington Wilson will be your guide through this momentous event in American history. Hear lore and learn of food traditions that helped to preserve the rich cultural heritage that African Americans in their arduous treks to new lives.

Our interactive program, for everyone of middle school age and older, will feature a display of family items connected to the Great Migration, the shift by African Americans from rural areas of the American South to northern and western cities and towns that stretched across decades and spurred milestones such as the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights movement.

A gifted writer, performer and storyteller from Newtonville, NJ, Michelle has captured the spirit of African American life throughout North America and the Caribbean for more than 30 years. The Monmouth University graduate belongs to the NJ Storytelling Network and the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS).

Please register at https://tinyurl.com/OclWaMigration for this free program sponsored by the Friends of the Waretown Library, volunteers who support OCL through programs, fundraising and advocacy. New members are always welcome. Application forms are available at all Library branches and on the OCL website.

For more information, stop by the OCL Waretown Branch, 112 Main Street, or call (609) 693-5133. See the full schedule of Library programs in the online Calendar of Events.

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