Contact: Leah Barbour

STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Kinsey Collection, on display at Mississippi State through June 20, illustrates African American history through blacks' achievements and accomplishments.

During a Thursday [April 9] free and open program at the university's Mitchell Memorial Library, history professor Stephen Middleton, MSU's African American Studies director, will explain how certain artifacts in the collection validate the historical record, while others challenge it.

"The Kinsey Collection Artifacts and Their Historical Content," will begin at 2 p.m. in the library's John Grisham Room.

Pieces in MSU's display of "African American Treasures" from The Kinsey Collection, owned by Bernard and Shirley Kinsey of Pacific Palisades, California, celebrate African Americans' successes through U.S. history, especially their impacts on culture and art.

Highlights of the exhibit at MSU include an early copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and a signed copy of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision. Also, rare works from early 19th century African American artists are showcased.

In addition to MSU Libraries and African American Studies, the collection is made possible by Visit Mississippi, Starkville Visitors and Convention Council, Mississippi Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the exhibit do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Learn more about The Kinsey Collection and Middleton's presentation, visit http://library.msstate.edu/kinsey/. More information about The Kinsey Collection and its history is available at www.thekinseycollection.com.

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