Joan Maynard Lecture Series

Join us for our annual Dr. Joan Maynard Lecture Series, dedicated to spotlighting the exceptional work of black scholars across various disciplines. Dr. Joan Maynard, an artist, noted preservationist, and community organizer, was a foundational figure at Weeksville Heritage Center and her legacy continues to inspire.

This year, we’re thrilled to present a special collaboration featuring Dominique M. Jean-Louis, Chief Historian, and Natiba Guy-Clement, Assistant Director for Collections and Public Service at the Center for Brooklyn History. They will delve into how the histories of Black Brooklyn are collected, preserved, and made accessible, bridging their roles as Black women doing history and memory work in Brooklyn.

Schedule

6:30pm – Doors open. Light bites and refreshments will be served.

7:00pm – Lecture begins

7:30pm – Talkback and Q&A

8:30pm – Event ends

About Dr. Joan Maynard

Dr. Joan Cooper Bacchus Maynard (August 28, 1928 – January 22, 2006) became a founding member of the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville & Bedford-Stuyvesant History in 1968, its president in 1972 and, in 1974, became the Society’s first executive director and served until October 1999. She was a trustee emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and received its highest honor, the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award. Dr. Maynard was also a founding member of the African American Museum Association. Throughout her career, she received accolades from various city departments, universities, museums, and cultural and arts organizations for her leadership at Weeksville.

Dr. Maynard was the daughter of John W. Cooper, a Brooklyn ventriloquist (1873 – 1966), and Juliana St. Bernard Cooper, a seamstress (1883 – 1960) from Grenada. She graduated from Empire State College, SUNY, and held an honorary doctorate from Bank Street College of Education.  Prior to her involvement with Weeksville, Dr. Maynard was an accomplished artist.  She was an art director for publisher McGraw-Hill and went on to be an illustrator for the black history comic series Golden Legacy Magazine.  She also drew covers for The Crisis, the official NAACP magazine, and Freedomways, the main journal of the 20th-century black arts and intellectual movement.