Honoring ‘The Great Migration,’ Pa. state agencies celebrate Black History Month

By: John L. Micek - February 14, 2019 5:15 pm

The annual Inter-Agency Black History Month celebration in the Forum Auditorium, Harrisburg, Pa., 2/14/19 (Capital-Star photo by John L. Micek)

Employees from across Pennsylvania’s executive branch and independent state agencies gathered Thursday for an annual celebration of Black History Month.

The event, in the Forum Auditorium, behind the state Capitol, focused on the legacy of “The Great Migration,” the movement of rural southern blacks to the urban northeast, midwest and west between 1916 and 1970. Jeffrey Kirkland, a historian from York, offered the keynote address.

Watch video of some of the 12 p.m. event below.

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John L. Micek

A 3-decade veteran of the news business, John L. Micek is the Pennsylvania Capital-Star's Editor-in-Chief. An award-winning political reporter, Micek’s career has taken him from small town meetings and Chicago City Hall to Congress and the Pennsylvania Capitol. His weekly column on U.S. politics is syndicated to 800 newspapers nationwide by Cagle Syndicate. He also contributes commentary and analysis to broadcast outlets in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Micek’s first novel, “Ordinary Angels,” was released in 2019 by Sunbury Press.