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Colonial Williamsburg executive to speak at Marquette about storytelling

Event Information:
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 12
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Raynor Library Conference Center

Dr. Rex Ellis, vice president of the Historic Area at Colonial Williamsburg, will speak about storytelling as a means for teaching sensitive cultural subjects during a free, public lecture at Marquette University. Ellis will present “Black Agency in an Era of Oppression: Engaging in the Fight for Freedom,” on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Raynor Memorial Library Conference Center, 1355 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Ellis has found that storytelling allows him to teach history by humanizing a population that had been dehumanized in the past. “Rather than talking about facts and figures and statistics and all of the rest of it, I try to in some way humanize and provide audiences with an identity that relates to people,” Ellis said. “It’s hard to hate somebody whose story you know.”

Previously, Ellis chaired the Division of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1979, Ellis helped create Colonial Williamsburg’s African-American interpretation program, which helps visitors become aware of 18^th-century slave life through stories and drama.

Besides authoring several books, Ellis spearheaded the first-ever Storytelling Festival at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 2005, which is now an annual event. Ellis has also told stories in countless storytelling festivals and other venues throughout the country, earning a reputation as a master storyteller.

Ellis holds a doctoral degree in higher education from the College of William and Mary, a master of fine arts from Wayne State University, and a bachelor of fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University.

For more information, interested media may contact Christopher Stolarski in the Office of Marketing and Communication at (414) 288-1988.

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