Florida State University Panama City will celebrate Black History Month on Tuesday, Feb. 1, with a presentation by Bernard, Shirley and Khalil Kinsey of the nationally-recognized Kinsey Collection of African American Art & History. The community is invited to attend the free cultural celebration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, in the St. Joe Community Foundation Lecture Hall at the Holley Academic Center, 4750 Collegiate Drive. The event will include performances from NuGulf Coast Choir, selected readings from Gulf Coast State College students, and a presentation from the Kinseys.

The Kinseys, who will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary Feb. 11, met at Florida A&M University in 1963 after a civil rights demonstration. They cultivated the Kinsey Collection through their travels, and their son Khalil now serves as curator of the collection. The Kinsey Collection shares stories of African Americans’ resilience, creativity and achievement spanning more than 400 years through paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, rare books and documents — from a bronze bust of Frederick Douglass to letters by Malcolm X and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Bernard Kinsey refers to the “myth of absence,” explaining contributions by African Americans, whether in science, industry, politics or art were omitted from history books and the Kinsey Collection aims to provide the narrative. The Florida Department of Education has adopted the Kinsey Collection as the basis of instruction of 3.6 million students on African American History.