NASA - JSC Celebrates Juneteenth
2015-06-19
JSC African American Employee Resource Group Celebrates 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth
This year marks the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth. In remembrance of this proud celebration, dating back to 1865, the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) will be hosting a Juneteenth celebration event on July 7th at 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Bldg. 30 Auditorium with guest speaker Dr. Virgil A. Wood.
The commemoration will take place in honor of the historical day when Major General Gordon Granger and his troops landed in Galveston, Texas to announce the ending of the war and the immediate freeing of all slaves.
The Juneteenth celebration is one which has now for decades echoed the jubilation of past ancestors who joined together every June 19th to encourage, pray, and gather family members to celebrate the day their freedom was at last acknowledged.
Doing his part to serve others through spiritual, education, and community leadership, Dr. Virgil A. Wood has influenced and impacted the lives and communities of those who have faced hardships and struggles in ways that have propelled them towards progress.
Dr. Virgil A. Wood's steadfast dedication to serving others is exemplified though his honorable contributions which started in the church during his late teens when he served as an Ordained Minister for over 50 years in Road Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia until finally concluding his Pastoral Ministry in 2005.
He received his Doctorate in Education from Harvard University. He is also a graduate of Virginia Union University and Andover Newton Theological School. As an educator, he served as Dean and Director, the African American Institute, and Associate Professor of Northeastern University at Boston, and had been a Professor at Virginia Seminary and College, in Lynchburg, and a visiting Lecturer, Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, from University of Rhode Island, and also Lynchburg College, in Virginia.
Wood also served as a panelist and member of three White House Conferences under the Johnson, Nixon, and Carter Administrations. In retirement, he continues to work in cities across the country in a movement he co-founded, RESTORATION JUBILLE, whose major mission is REVERSING THE JAIL TRAIL AND JUMP STARTING VIABLE ECONOMIES.
Among his publications are INTRODUCTION TO BLACK CHURCH ECONOMIC STUDIES, (Sparks Press: Raleigh, N. C., 1974), ORIGININATOR and contributing editor, THE JUBILEE BIBLE, (American Bible Society, New York,) 1999, and reissued in 2012; and author, “IN LOVE WE TRUST: Lessons I Learned From Martin Luther King”, published by Beckham House, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2005. He has combined his dual career in Church Leadership and Education with a life-long commitment to community development as economic and spiritual transformation.
Dr. Virgil A. Wood is a well-renowned activist who made significant impacts during the Civil Rights movement. He served with Martin Luther King, Jr., as a member of his National Executive Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for the last ten years of Dr. King’s life and work, and Coordinated the State of Virginia in the Historic March on Washington April 28, 1963.
In 2011 Dr. Virgil A. Wood and Fred Stwaitz united together to make the FREE Dream Movement a reality. To this date, Dr. Virgil A. Wood’s contributions have attributed to making a noble change in the lives of individuals and society as a whole.
Robert Rodarte III
NASA Johnson Space Center
This year marks the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth. In remembrance of this proud celebration, dating back to 1865, the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) will be hosting a Juneteenth celebration event on July 7th at 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Bldg. 30 Auditorium with guest speaker Dr. Virgil A. Wood.
The commemoration will take place in honor of the historical day when Major General Gordon Granger and his troops landed in Galveston, Texas to announce the ending of the war and the immediate freeing of all slaves.
The Juneteenth celebration is one which has now for decades echoed the jubilation of past ancestors who joined together every June 19th to encourage, pray, and gather family members to celebrate the day their freedom was at last acknowledged.
Doing his part to serve others through spiritual, education, and community leadership, Dr. Virgil A. Wood has influenced and impacted the lives and communities of those who have faced hardships and struggles in ways that have propelled them towards progress.
Dr. Virgil A. Wood's steadfast dedication to serving others is exemplified though his honorable contributions which started in the church during his late teens when he served as an Ordained Minister for over 50 years in Road Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia until finally concluding his Pastoral Ministry in 2005.
He received his Doctorate in Education from Harvard University. He is also a graduate of Virginia Union University and Andover Newton Theological School. As an educator, he served as Dean and Director, the African American Institute, and Associate Professor of Northeastern University at Boston, and had been a Professor at Virginia Seminary and College, in Lynchburg, and a visiting Lecturer, Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, from University of Rhode Island, and also Lynchburg College, in Virginia.
Wood also served as a panelist and member of three White House Conferences under the Johnson, Nixon, and Carter Administrations. In retirement, he continues to work in cities across the country in a movement he co-founded, RESTORATION JUBILLE, whose major mission is REVERSING THE JAIL TRAIL AND JUMP STARTING VIABLE ECONOMIES.
Among his publications are INTRODUCTION TO BLACK CHURCH ECONOMIC STUDIES, (Sparks Press: Raleigh, N. C., 1974), ORIGININATOR and contributing editor, THE JUBILEE BIBLE, (American Bible Society, New York,) 1999, and reissued in 2012; and author, “IN LOVE WE TRUST: Lessons I Learned From Martin Luther King”, published by Beckham House, Silver Spring, Maryland, 2005. He has combined his dual career in Church Leadership and Education with a life-long commitment to community development as economic and spiritual transformation.
Dr. Virgil A. Wood is a well-renowned activist who made significant impacts during the Civil Rights movement. He served with Martin Luther King, Jr., as a member of his National Executive Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for the last ten years of Dr. King’s life and work, and Coordinated the State of Virginia in the Historic March on Washington April 28, 1963.
In 2011 Dr. Virgil A. Wood and Fred Stwaitz united together to make the FREE Dream Movement a reality. To this date, Dr. Virgil A. Wood’s contributions have attributed to making a noble change in the lives of individuals and society as a whole.
Robert Rodarte III
NASA Johnson Space Center
NASA - JSC Celebrates Juneteenth
June 16,2015
11am - 12 noon
Bldg 30 Auditorium
Dr. Virgil A. Wood