BHCLA Newsletter Issue 005: Spring Equinox & New Beginnings

As Spring continues to emerge and the earth blossoms around us, the time for celebration and remembrance has come once again! The 6th Annual Donald Bentley Memorial Lecture will happen next week on Thursday, April 9th. Join us for what is sure to be a deeply reflective and enlightening evening featuring a chorale performance, live cellist, exhibition, and reception celebrating the life and work of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the 19th century’s most important Black woman writer.

Last month’s Helena Hicks Speaker Series featured Dr. Jude Phillip who shared a riveting overview of exciting and innovation engineering approaches to the biology of aging and disease. He shared a number of resources beneficial to our communities and we encourage you to reach out to him via email ([email protected]) for more information! We look forward to the final Helena Hicks Speaker Series of the 2025-2026 academic year with Dr. Amaka Okechukwu offering us a lecture titled “Black Improvisation: The Social Infrastructure of Grassroots Black Education in Brooklyn, New York”.

Please click the link below for more information on:

  • 6th Annual Donald Bentley Memorial Lecture
  • Final Helena Hicks Speaker Series
  • Upcoming Events
Image: Terry Thompson, The Poet. Digital oil and oil stick using a stylus on iPhone, 20″ x 20″, printed on archival paper. 1 of 1 executed in 2025.

The image is a recreation of a notable image of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Terry Thompson has created a significant body of work using his iPhone to make digital paintings, which are subsequently published as archival pigment prints. These digital works often feature figurative portraits of women and famous figures that are rarely seen in his oil-on-canvas paintings.
BHCLA Newsletter Issue #005 April 2026
As Spring continues to emerge and the earth blossoms around us, the time for celebration and remembrance has come once again! The 6th Annual Donald Bentley Memorial Lecture will happen next…
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