As February approaches, Penn State has a variety of events planned in celebration of Black History Month.

From February 2 to September 9, the Eberly Family Special Collections Library will host “Where Beauty’s At“: Expressions of Black Visual Culture in 104 Paterno Library. The exhibition will pull from the University and Special Collections archives and highlight historical and creative works by Black artists and writers. The exhibition will explore the relationships between history, politics, creativity, and visual expression within Black culture.

In partnership with the exhibition, the library will present short film, “Curating Black Visual Culture: The Making of an Exhibition,” and the 2024 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts. The film, created with the help of Penn State’s CommAgency, focuses on the creation of the exhibition and will be showcased in the room.

The lecture will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, virtually. It will be given by book artist and educator IBe’ Crawley who will speak about her book “11033.”

Additionally, Penn State will hold a Transcribe-a-Thon from noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14, at the Mann Assembly Room in Pattee Library. The event will be in celebration of Douglass Day, an annual program marking the birth of Frederick Douglass, where participants attempt to transcribe the 8,731 pages of Douglass’s correspondence in a single day. Interested participants are encouraged to register at this link.

More events will be added throughout the month, and events slated for Commonwealth Campuses can be found here.