“The Preservation of Her Calling: Dr. Tameka Ellington from the Inner-City Streets of Cleveland to Designer and Motivational Speaker,” A Lecture and Book Signing

In this presentation Dr. Ellington will tell the story of her journey from growing up in the Glenville neighborhood, to being the first in her family to attain a degree. She went on to work as a designer in the high pace fashion industry and years later became the first Black Professor of Fashion at the Kent State University Fashion School. Now Dr. Ellington is living in her true calling of being an internationally recognized empowerment speaker. Dr. Ellington and Dr. Joseph L. Underwood served as the co-curators for “TEXTURES: The History and Art of Black Hair, an exhibition at the Kent State University Museum that will remain on view through August 14, 2022.

The May 14th lecture and book signing are part of the 2022 “Past Masters, Master Teachers, and Modern Artists” series, which it is made possible with support from The George Gund Foundation.  For more information, please contact Dr. Regennia N. Williams, the curator/coordinator for the series and Distinguished Scholar of African American History and Culture, at rwilliams@wrhs.org or (216) 721-5722, ext. 1516.

*Free admission to museum and event available for guests who register in advance via the CLEtix site.

*Books will be available for purchase in the Museum Store. You can also order Textures online.

*Convenient paid parking available onsite.