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The Legacy Cultural Project 2024 took place on Thursday, June 6, 2024 through Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. This year the Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program, through the generosity and partnership of dedicated sponsors, was privileged to serve five Farrell Area School District high school students (grades 9-12) and their respective parent or guardian; the City of Farrell Mayor, Kimberly Doss; Detective Joey Brant from the Farrell Police Department; City Councilperson, Carminal Craig; Farrell School Board member, Rev. Tiffany Holden; and Farrell Area School District educators: John Seybert (Special Education Director) and Derek Burda (African American Studies teacher).
The Legacy Cultural Project is an annual cultural trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama created by The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program to address cultural sensitivity, diversity, equity, and inclusion through the introduction of arts and culture. Our organization purposely selected the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania for The Legacy Cultural Project. The project was designed to respectfully, but intentionally invite conversations on cultural sensitivity, discussions about diversity, and prompt reflection regarding the harsh realities of Deep South history across the various stakeholders, including the city, community, law enforcement, and school district.
While in Selma, Alabama, the project participants visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge which is the historic site of the March 9, 1965 protest for the murder of Mr. Jimmy Lee Jackson. In preparation to cross the bridge, the group also visited Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the starting and meeting location of the non-violent gathering. The next stops were The Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama. Each of these consequential locations provided the transformative backdrop for our daily debrief and life-changing recaps. Thank you for your continued support of this rewarding work. Please click on the above links to make a donation to this project. Thank You!!!!
Our Founder and Executive Director Jermaine Somerset appeared on WFMJ Channel 21 to summarize the upcoming 2nd Annual Legacy Cultural Project.
The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program is proud to announce its second annual Legacy Cultural Project. Our organization is excited to partner with the City of Farrell, the Farrell Police Department, and the Farrell Area School District, and we are also the proud recipient of a Shenango Valley Foundation Grant from the Community Foundation of Western PA and Eastern OH for this project.
The Legacy Cultural Project 2024 will serve five Farrell Area School District high school students from grades 9-12 and their respective parent or guardian, Mayor Kimberly Doss, the school district’s Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Emily Clare, one teacher, one police officer from the Farrell Police Department, one city council member, and one school board member. The Legacy Cultural Project is a cultural trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama created by The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program to address cultural sensitivity, diversity, equity, and inclusion through the introduction of arts and culture. Our organization purposely selected the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania for The Legacy Cultural Project. The project was designed to respectfully, but intentionally invite discussion on cultural sensitivity, diversity, and prompt reflection regarding the harsh realities of Deep South history across the various stakeholders of the city, community, and school district. The Legacy Cultural Project 2024 will take place Thursday, June 6, 2024 through Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. Participants will fly from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Montgomery, Alabama where board members and volunteers of the Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program will greet them. The three-day event will begin with a visit to Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, then on to the First White House of the Confederacy, Rosa Parks Museum, The Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama.
Today’s time with Farrell Police Department, Chief Erick Gatewood and Superintendent of Farrell Area School District Dr. Lora Adams-King was well spent! The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program is elated to continue the mission of our Legacy Cultural Project in 2024! The Legacy Cultural Project 2024 will serve five Farrell Area School District high school students and their respective parent or guardian, City of Farrell Mayor Kimberly Doss, the school district’s Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Emily Clare, one local teacher, one police officer from the Farrell Police Department, and one Farrell city council member. The Legacy Cultural Project is a cultural trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama created by The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program to address diversity, equity, and inclusion through the introduction of arts and culture. The City of Farrell, Pennsylvania specifically selected by our organization for The Legacy Cultural Project. The project was designed to respectfully, but intentionally invite discussion on cultural sensitivity, diversity and prompt reflection regarding the harsh realities of Deep South history across the various stakeholders of the city, community, and school district.
📣The Legacy Cultural Project 2024 will take place Thursday, June 6, 2024 through Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. The three-day event will begin with a visit to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the First White House of the Confederacy, Rosa Parks Museum, The Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and Riverfront Park in Montgomery, Alabama.
📣If you are interested in supporting this work, tax-deductible donations can be made via:
Cashapp• $thesomersetprogram
•Zelle• the.somerset.program@gmail.com
•PayPal• https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=EF4T3T724PVE2
Statement of Dr. Emile Clare, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, Farrell Area School District: The inspiration for the Farrell Area School District's African American Living Museum is inspired from the work of Executive Director Mr. Jermaine Somerset and his The Legacy Cultural Project through the Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program. In June of 2023, the non-profit organization sponsored students, families, and community leaders on a trip to Alabama to visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the Legacy Museum. That trip changed my life, and I knew I needed to figure out a way to use the trip to help shape learning for all students in our District. After a few brainstorming sessions, the African American Living Museum Project was developed. Students enrolled in an African American History course were tasked with selecting a topic, person or event from the Civil Rights Movement; researching that topic, person or event; and then designing a museum artifact that represented their learning. Students worked together, alongside local artists, to curate an exhibit that showcased all of the artifacts in a way that told the story of the Civil Rights Movement as a collective experience. Community members and families were invited to walk through the museum as students told the story of their selected topic, person or event alongside their museum artifacts. Not only was this a way to make learning more authentic, but it created a voice for our students to tell history as they understand it to a larger audience. Without the vision of the Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program and its Legacy Cultural Project, I know our African American Living Museum Project would not be possible for our students.
Jermaine Somerset, Executive Director of The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program attended the Juneteenth celebration in Farrell, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program would like to extend our gratitude again to Mayor Kimberly Doss and the Farrell Police Department in support of the recent Legacy Cultural Project, a cultural trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama sponsored by the program during which Farrell, Pennsylvania high school students, family, and community leaders explored deep South history and engaged in nightly Q & A sessions reflecting on the day’s activities and the creation of steps aimed at increased positive community development for the future. The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program stands together with Mayor Doss and the Farrell Police Department in combined efforts to continue the goal of the Legacy Cultural Project with discussions of innovative and progressive ideas to embrace a collaborative approach to the fostering of healing by bridging divides within the City of Farrell.
The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program is extremely excited to have sponsored Farrell, Pennsylvania high school students, family, and community leaders on The Legacy Cultural Project, a cultural trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. Student Syon Rain (Class of 2024), his mother Roxanne West, Student Destini McDonald (Class of 2026), her grandmother Deborah Gavins, Student Brielle Foore (Class of 2028), her mother Tonya Foore, Mayor Kimberly Doss, School Board Member Reverend Tiffany Holden, and Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Emily Clare attended the trip hosted by The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program and its Founder/Executor Director, Jermaine Somerset (1991 Farrell High School graduate). The group visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama (the site of the brutal “Bloody Sunday”), The Legacy Museum (located on the site of a former warehouse where Black people were forced to labor), the Riverfront Park in downtown Montgomery, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (a memorial to the 4,400 African Americans who were lynched in this country between 1877 and 1950). Mr. Somerset engaged the group in nightly Q & A sessions to reflect on the day’s activities and the development of steps aimed at increased positive community development for the future. The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program understands the importance of building strong community relations. To accomplish this goal, the program focuses on the “Four Pillars” that are a foundation of our communities: Citizens, Community Leadership, Law Enforcement, and Education. We are strongly committed to the process of activism, and we promote a collaborative approach to the fostering of healing by bridging divides between those four pillars. The Fred Somerset Memorial Scholarship Program is proud to continue its mission of giving back to the City of Farrell, Pennsylvania.
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