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Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to Speak at DTCC
NOTED AUTHOR TO CELEBRATE AFRICAN- AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH
New York, Feb. 16, 2001 - Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an internationally-renowned Harvard University professor, will address an Open House meeting of employees at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) as part of DTCC's celebration of African-American History month on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2001. The event starts at noon and continues until 1:30 p.m.
Gates recently co-edited Encarta Africana, an encyclopedia focusing onthe history, geography and culture of people of African descent worldwide.Gates, who joined Harvard University's faculty in 1991, is the institution'sW.E.B DuBois Professor of the Humanities and Chair of Afro-American studies. Inaddition, he is the director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-AmericanResearch. DuBois (1868-1963) was one of the founders of a group that laterbecame The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
"We are honored to have such a distinguished author and educator joiningus for African-American History month and look forward to having him share hisperspective, based on his research and views of African-American culture,"said Jill Considine, DTCC's chairman and CEO. "We know our employees arevery excited to have someone of Dr. Gates' reputation celebrateAfrican-American history."
The research Gates undertook for Encarta Africana, a multi-mediaCD-ROM, laid the groundwork for a follow-up book, Wonders of The AfricanWorld (1999). The latter chronicled Gates' journey through 12 Africancountries and was aimed at connecting African-Americans with their ancestors andtheir contemporaries. Wonders of The African World was also convertedinto a six-hour PBS/BBC television series.
Gates is the author of several works of literary criticism, such as Figuresin Black: Words, Signs and the ‘Racial' Self and TheSignifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism. He alsowrote Colored People: A Memoir (1994), which traces his childhoodexperiences in a small West Virginia town in the 1950s and 1960s and ThirteenWays of Looking at A Black Man (1997).
Dr. Gates received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from YaleUniversity and earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Clare College atthe University of Cambridge. Before joining Harvard's faculty, he taught atYale, Cornell, and Duke Universities.
The Harvard professor's appearance is the centerpiece of DTCC'scelebration of African-American History Month and his remarks will be deliveredat the J.P. Morgan Chase auditorium, NewYork, NY, followed by a question and answer session.
Due to limited seating capacity, attendance is limited to DTCC employees andmembers of the working press, all of whom will be seated on a first come, firstserved basis. The auditorium will open at 11:45 a.m.
About DTCC: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), with operating facilities in multiple locations in the U.S. and overseas, is a holding company for six subsidiary businesses - a depository and five clearing corporations - as well as the co-owner with Thomson Financial of a global joint venture called Omgeo. Through its subsidiaries, DTCC provides clearance, settlement and information services for equities, corporate debt, municipal debt, government securities and mortgage-backed securities in the U.S., and emerging markets debt trades globally. It is also a leading clearinghouse for mutual funds and insurance products, linking funds and carriers with distribution networks. In addition, DTCC provides custody and asset servicing for more than two million securities from the U.S. and 84 other countries. For more information on DTCC, see www.dtcc.com.