The I. DeQuincey Newman Institute for Peace and Social Justice in the USC College of Social Work will present its second-annual "A Seat at the Table" event at 6 p.m. March 22 at the Clarion Hotel, downtown Columbia. The event will include a recognition ceremony of the documentary, "Notable African-American Women: In Their Own Voices."

"A Seat at the Table" will focus on ten African American women who have contributed to social change and have shaped lives in their communities, state, and nation through ordinary acts of courage. The documentary, "Notable African American Women: In Their Own Voices," captures a profile of each woman from early childhood to present.

A companion booklet will accompany the documentary and serve as a discussion guide.

The ten honorees for the evening are:

• Emily England Clyburn, native of Moncks Corner, graduate of South Carolina State College (now University), retired librarian, co-founder of James E. and Emily E. Clyburn Endowment for the Archives and History at South Carolina State University, mother of three and the spouse of Congressman and Majority Whip James Clyburn.
• Frances Davenport Finney, native of Newberry, graduate of Claflin College (now University) and South Carolina State College (now University), retired educator, social activist, recent inductee into the Claflin University Hall of Fame, mother of three, and spouse of retired Chief Justice, S.C. Supreme Court, Ernest A. Finney, Jr.
• Barbara Williams Jenkins, native of Union, graduate of Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C., University of Illinois, and Rutgers University, Dean Emeritus, retired librarian , member of the S.C .African American Heritage Commission and widow of football coach, Robert A. Jenkins.
• Carrie Allen McCray, currently of Columbia, graduate of Talladega College (now University) in Alabama and New York University School of Social Work, author of several books, including Freedom's Child, professor, poet, lecturer, social work educator, mother of one, and widow of newspaperman, John McCray.
• Anne Pauline Hinton Newman, currently of Columbia, graduate of Claflin College (now University), former secretary to the NAACP Field Director, social activist, educator, mother of one, and widow of Reverend I. DeQuincey Newman.
• Hallie Bacote Perry, native of Timmonsville, graduate of South Carolina State College (now University), and Columbia University in NY, social activist, member of League of Women Voters, LINKS of Columbia and mother of one, and spouse of Senior US District Judge Matthew J. Perry.
• Maude Ford Ross, currently of Winnsboro, graduate of Allen University, Columbia, SC and Columbia University in NY, educator, guidance counselor, humanitarian, life member of Women's Missionary Society AME Church and the National Council of Negro Women, mother of four, and widow of Julius Mansel Ross, Sr.
• Margaret A. Thornton, currently of Columbia, graduate of Howard University Music Conservatory, Teachers College-Columbia University in New York, educator, renowned music instructor, member of South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA) Hall of Fame and mother of one.
• Clemmie Embly Webber, a native of St. Mathews, graduate of South Carolina State College (now University), and American University, Washington, DC, retired university professor, social activist, recipient of National Mother of the Year Award and Order of the Palmetto, mother of three and widow of university professor and coach, Paul R. Webber, Jr.
• Esther Nell K. Glymph Witherspoon, a native of Gaffney, graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C. and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, former librarian, philanthropist, humanitarian, social activist, life time member of the United Methodist Church, and widow of minister and educator, Dr. James W. Witherspoon.

Tickets for "A Seat at the Table" are available for $50 per person. For more information, call 7-3912.

3/07