George Washington Carver National Monument to Host Annual Storytelling Day on August 24

(Diamond, MO) – George Washington Carver National Monument is excited to invite the community for their 8th annual Storytelling Day. Mark your calendar for Saturday, August 24 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm as this event celebrates the 108th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service and focuses on stories about American culture and history. Stop by and listen as dynamic storytellers share tales of diverse experiences and special places and spaces. Our history is part of who we were, who we are, and who we will be.

This event will take place outdoors under a tent and is free of charge. Everyone is encouraged to bring a lawn chair and a sack lunch as they stay for all the performances!

Storytelling Day is cosponsored by the Carver Birthplace Association.

Performances include:

• 11:00 am, Cherry and Jerry (Missouri African American Composers) – Cherry & Jerry is a percussion/piano duo that play ragtime, early blues, and jazz standards. Missouri was on the forefront of early American popular music, and African American composers were pioneers in the development of the new styles. The “father of ragtime,” Ernest Hogan, spent many years in Kansas City, while Scott Joplin created his classic ragtime style in Sedalia and St. Louis. Tom Turpin made St. Louis a ragtime capital and James Scott was making music in the Joplin-Carthage Area.
• 12:00 pm, Suzanne Jones (Native American Storyteller) – Suzanne Jones is a high school science teacher. From 1999 until its close, she was involved in the American Indian Center of St. Louis. Since then, she has tried to provide education about Native Americans in the St. Louis area through community and civic engagement. This presentation focuses on traditional stories told primarily by Choctaw, Cherokee, and Delaware Nations/tribes, all of which Jones is either a tribal member or descendent. These stories are often told to educate children or entertain people at gatherings. Jones is also a member of the Missouri Humanities Council Speakers Bureau program.
•  1:00 pm, Angela da Silva (Lila, The Life of a Missouri Slave) – Angela da Silva, from St. Louis, Missouri, is a cultural preservationist, independent historian, educator, playwright, performer, and pioneer of Black history tourism, starting the National Black Tourism Network in 1998. She has researched and given voice to historically based enslaved women’s characters, bringing forward stories that time and memory have forgotten. She has performed regularly at Missouri schools, libraries, and historic sites, including Daniel Boone’s Historic Home. Da Silva will present Lila, the Life of a Missouri Slave. Lila’s story is universal. Her life was one of pain and untold suffering that was shared by many enslaved women, but there were also moments of happiness and laughter. Lia was one of millions of faceless, nameless Black women whose contributions to the wealth of the nation transcended not only her labor but her soul. Yet she endured and thrived and lent her strength to the survival of a people.