Pennsylvania Grand Review

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We are looking for 100 young African American men ages 18-30!

We are looking for 100 young African American men ages 18-30!

Including:

• Twenty from the five counties of Philadelphia and the countryside
• Twenty from the eight counties of Dutch Country Roads (Central Pa.)
• Twenty from the counties of the Susquehanna Valley and Alleghenies and Her Valleys
• Twenty from the Western Pennsylvania counties of Pittsburgh and its countryside
• Twenty from the Appalachian Region counties of Pa Wilds, Up State Pa and Great Lakes Region
• Training and certification, continuing education credits, stipends, and placement will be provided to all participants.

HOW TO APPLY

• This project is primarily designed for current students with well disciplined learning skills and self management techniques. In addition, reading, writing, speaking, time management, and research skills are paramount to the success of the program. Travel is required.
• This project is supported in part by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. First priority will be given to young African American men enrolled in one of the following institutions:
  • Bloomsburg, California, Cheney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, West Chester.
• Consult your Provost office for more information.
• Students enrolled in full time, part time, or continuing education projects at other academic institutions are also invited to apply.
• Candidates should be currently enrolled in some academic program that demonstrates their ability for research, project management, demonstration of capacity via grade point average, projects and classroom products etc. Specifically, students will need to get a recommendation from a professor or instructor nominating them and assuring their self discipline and ability in self guided research.
• Journalism, communications, history, political science, ROTC, sociology, education, theater, museum studies, tourism and hospitality students are all encouraged to apply.
• Interested students need to submit the letter of endorsement, an application including name, address, university, phone, cell, face book address, and email address, photo and one paragraph bio. The bio should include job skills, academic and practical achievement, skills, hobbies, clubs, community service and other achievements, award.
• The application should also include a 300-500 word essay on one of the following themes:
  • Liberty
  • Equality
  • Community
  • Fraternity
• The entire application package needs to be mailed no later than May 21st. to:

Lenwood Sloan
Director of Cultural and Heritage Tourism Program
Department of Community & Economic Development
(717)720-1313
Commonwealth Keystone Building
400 North Street, 4th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225

• If you have additional questions, please email Mr. Sloan at lsloan@state.pa.us
• Due to the volume of inquires; all questions will be answered by e-mail. Generally no phone inquiries will receive reply!
  
• NO ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED! Incomplete applications are not likely to be considered
• A special orientation event will be held May 20th in Harrisburg at Midtown Cinema and Midtown bookstore. Visit the events page on housedivided.dickinson.edu/grandreview for more information about these orientations and interviews.
• Mr. Sloan will email candidates selected for interviews no later than May 26th.

• A project team will visit select institutions in the state universities system to meet candidates between June 1st and June 15th so that everyone selected for interviews has been given both one on one and small group interviews and exchanges. State University sites include: Cheney, Millersville, Kutztown, Shippensburg, California University, Bloomsburg, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock.

During this on-campus visit—selected students should plan to spend the afternoon (noon-4pm) with the team:

• Students should:
  • Prepare to attend the 90 min group workshop ( period movement for actors) followed by project orientation;
  • Present a 1-3 minute speech based on their submitted essay;

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

• In addition, Selected Students will be required to
  • (a) Attend the Penn State university retreat – June 26-27
  • (b) Attend the men’s soldiers’ camp Aug. 28-29
  • (c) Participate in your team’s conservation weekend activities
  • (d) Attend the area project based learning events at designated school
  • (e) Attend the Grand Review activities Nov 5-6
  • (f) Participate in your team’s Nov 14 commemoration events
  • (g) Participate in Gettysburg commemoration Nov 19th
• Students will be provided a stipend of $100.00, a travel stipend of $50.00 and meals and lodging plus learning materials for each of the seven (7) engagements above.
• If you are not currently enrolled in a continuing education or academic program you must seek an additional letter of recommendation confirming you ability to achieve self managed.

ALL PARTIICPANTS MUST BE SELF RELIANT AND WILLING AND ABLE TO TRAVEL WITHIN THE 60 -90 MILE RADIUS OF THEIR HOME/UNIVERSITY LOCATIONS!

Article in Patriot News

The Patriot News recently published an article about plans for the Grand Review in November 2010 –

• “A group of African-American women in Harrisburg declared public outrage, and then held their own grand review, officially sanctioned by the U.S. Army. Hundreds of black soldiers from 25 states held an encampment and marched through Harrisburg on Nov. 14, 1865. They started near where Soldiers Grove now stands behind the Capitol, said Harrisburg researcher Calobe Jackson. That balmy day they marched through downtown and ended at Simon Cameron’s mansion. On Nov. 5-7, Harrisburg will hold a reenactment of the grand review and exhibitions. The event will feature presentations and conservation projects to honor the U.S. Colored Troops and tell their stories.”

Read the full article here.

Press Release Detailing 2010 Grand Review

News for Immediate Release

Jan. 15, 2010

PA Tourism Office Invites Public to Help Tell the Stories of U.S. Colored Troops Members

In Gettysburg, Agency Launches Search for Descendants

Gettysburg – The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is searching for the families of James Shirk of Shippensburg, Enoch Watson of Lancaster, and Robert Bridges Forten of Philadelphia, as well as the relatives of tens of thousands of other men who fought in the Civil War as members of the United States Colored Troops.

The Colored Troops were regiments of the U.S. Army that were comprised of free blacks and freed slaves; the soldiers reinforced the Union army in the final two years of the Civil War.

During a visit to St. Paul AME Zion Church—a site regarded as the center of black life and culture in Gettysburg during the 19th century—Department of Community and Economic Development Deputy Secretary for Tourism Mickey Rowley said the commonwealth wants to tell the stories of those men and announced the state is launching an effort to locate their descendants.

“Shirk, Watson, and Forten are just three of the 180,000 members of the Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War,” said Rowley. “Now is the time to create a conversation among the families of these troops, among the communities they called home, and among those who are unaware of this vital piece of American history.”

The St. Paul AME Zion Church was home to the “Slave Refugee Society,” a group established in 1840 to “help those who sought freedom from the ‘tyrannical yoke of oppression.’”

The descendants will be included in a year-long commemoration – called the Pennsylvania Grand Review – that will include exhibitions, presentations and conservation projects that will reveal the hidden histories of the troops.

The Grand Review will serve as a commemoration of the November 1865 event of the same name. It was organized by the women of Harrisburg to honor the United States Colored Troops who were not permitted to participate in the Grand Review of the Armies, a military procession and celebration held May 23-24, 1865, in Washington, D.C., following the end of the Civil War.

“We have designed the Grand Review to reconnect the families of the USCT with their history, conserve the gravesites of these troops, and share this piece of history with a new generation of Americans,” Rowley said. “Our commemoration will culminate Nov. 5-7 with a reenactment, parade, and living history presentations, followed by a wreath-laying on Nov. 19 at the grave of Charles Parker, one of only two United States Colored Troops buried at National Cemetery in Gettysburg.”

Descendants of the United States Colored Troops should call 1-800-VISIT-PA and provide their contact information, which will include them in this special year-long commemoration of these African-American patriots.

Rowley noted that the Grand Review is being made possible by the generous support of Amtrak, which provided $25,000 for promotional support and development along with the Pennsylvania Humanities Council that supplied $16,000 for a symposium of scholars, educators, and enthusiasts.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. For information, contact Lenwood Sloan, director of cultural and heritage tourism at the Department of Community and Economic Development, at 717-720-1313 or at lsloan@state.pa.us.

The Grand Review has been created in partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission, PA Dutch Country Roads, the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Concerned Black Men of PA, Partnership for Sacred Spaces, Institute for Cultural Partnerships, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania Civil War 150 Consortium, Historical Society of Dauphin County, Dauphin County Parks and Recreation, Jump Street Inc., Harrisburg 150, and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Northern Appalachian Studies.

The Pennsylvania Tourism Office, under DCED, is dedicated to inspiring travel to the State of Independence. For more information, go to visitPA.com or call (800) VISIT PA; become a fan at facebook.com/visitPA, follow us at twitter.com/visitPA, share photos at flickr.com/visitPA, or watch us on youtube.com/visitPA. For a free subscription to Pursuits Magazine, go to visitPA.com/pursuits.

Media contact: Michael Chapaloney, 717-720-1301

Editor’s Note: For additional Pennsylvania tourism story ideas, follow us at www.twitter.com/patourismpr.