Pictured: A special mural exhibition will open to the public in ABAC’s Edwards Hall on January 18.
TIFTON—A special mural exhibition titled “Coming to America—The Immigrant Experience Featuring the Lost Mural of Ellis Island” will open to the public beginning Jan. 18 in Ernest Edwards Hall on the campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
The opening reception and the first of three supporting lectures for the exhibition are both set for Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in Edwards Hall when Dr. John Vanzo speaks on “Malanija Knavs and the Right Way to Come to America.” Vanzo is a professor of political science and geography in the School of Arts and Sciences.
Other supporting lectures include Dr. Elizabeth Medley on “Rise of the Resistance: Immigrant Women’s Political Activism from Ellis Island to the Modern Era” on March 3 and Dr. Russell Pryor on “Fried Chicken, Spaghetti, and Tacos: Mass Migration and the All-American Meal” on April 7. Medley and Pryor are both assistant professors in the School of Arts and Sciences.
The 85-foot mural by Andrew Sabori is a reproduction of the 200-foot mural titled “The Role of the Immigrant in the Industrial Development of America” which was created circa 1935 by Edward Laning as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.
Sabori and Roberta Sabori conceived the idea for their project when they visited Ellis Island in the New York harbor in 2003. Roberta Sabori examined a photo of the Laning mural in the Ellis Island dining hall. The beautiful work of art was known only to the immigrants passing through Ellis Island since its location was off limits to the public.
When Ellis Island closed in 1954, much of the original mural was lost after a violent storm damaged the building. Following painstaking research, Sabori began painting his reproduction of the Laning mural in 2008.
In addition to the beautiful mural, the exhibit will include Sabori’s original portraits of 35 significant immigrants and facsimiles of relevant documents from the National Archives including passenger arrival lists, census records, draft registration cards, and naturalization petitions.
There is no charge to visit the mural or attend the lectures. Edwards Hall is open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Fridays.
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