By LOIS KINDLE
February is Black History Month, a time of year that’s especially important to Lea Manningham and her Girls of the World Inc. members.
“Black History Month is more than just a reflection on the past,” said Manningham, the nonprofit’s 47-year-old founder and CEO. “It’s an opportunity for us to inspire the next generation.
As a Black female mentor, I pay a vital role in educating and uplifting young girls and ensuring they understand their history, embrace their identity and carry forward the legacy of strength, resilience and excellence.”
In celebration of that legacy, Manningham met with nine of her youngest members and introduced them to Ann Cole Lowe, an American fashion designer who was best known for the elegant wedding dress she made for Jacqueline Bouvier’s marriage to John F. Kennedy in September 1953.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Lea Manningham, Girls of the World Inc. founder/CEO, reads Fancy Party Gowns, the story of iconic fashion designer Ann Cole Lowe, to some of her organization’s youngest members during their Black History Month celebration. She used Lowe’s experiences to demonstrate the importance of perseverance in times of adversity and other life lessons.
She showed the girls a short CBS news feature about the African American designer, discussed what they had learned and then read the girls an illustrated book about Lowe’s life [1898 to 1981], called Fancy Party Gowns, and written by Deborah Blumenthal.
“She was a little Black girl who helped her mother and grandmother [a former slave] sew dresses and grew up to design beautiful gowns for many famous women,” Manningham said.
Interspersing humor, life-skill lessons and modern day examples of other Black women who, like Lowe, faced many setbacks and serious challenges, Manningham used the opportunity to teach her young charges the importance of perseverance, of always having a dream, focusing on the possible and recognizing what’s beyond their control, and having a voice and using it.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Fifth-grader Jenesis Huffman colorizes the ball gown she sketched during a hands-on, Black History Month activity following a video and reading on the life of Ann Cole Lowe, Feb. 8 at Girls of the World Inc.
She encouraged each girl to comment and then gave the group a hands-on exercise to draw and color a ball gown for a favorite person. They also discussed what they wanted to do when they grew up and how they’d contribute to society.
The entire morning was spent honoring and appreciating Black women who used their talents to contribute to American history. These included mathematician Katherine Johnson, who worked for NASA and calculated the trajectory for astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1961 Freedom 7 mission to space; Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist who fought for African American voting rights and challenged the segregation of Mississippi’s delegation at the 1964 Democratic convention; Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives; and several others.
Manningham displayed age-appropriate books on African American history throughout the room and decorated doors with themes of Black history.
She challenged the girls to consider what Black history means to them, why they celebrate it and how they themselves are going to make history.
“I celebrate Black history because I get to honor and remember the people who changed our lives and tried to make the world a better place,” said Girls of the World 5th-grader Amerah Delbaugh. “I’m going to make history by becoming an FBI agent to help people around the world stay safe.”
TIERRA MCCLAIN PHOTO
Girls of the World Inc. members who celebrated Black History Month with their mentor, Lea Manningham, show off the ball gowns they sketched, after learning about Ann Cole Lowe, an American fashion designer best known for creating Jaccqueline Bouvier’s wedding dress for her marriage to John F. Kennedy in the early 1950s. In the front row, from left, are Nasira DuBose, Alyse Roberts, Kinsley Sackoh and Morgan Watson; in the back row, Janae Johnson, Mariah Johnson, Jenesis Huffman, Kendall Miller and Cailey Howell.
For more information on Ann Cole Lowe and her remarkable life, visit https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/ann-lowe-fashion-icon/.
About Girls of the World
Girls of the World Inc. offers free life skills training and mentoring in a safe and nurturing environment to girls and young women ages 8 and older. Its programs offer members life skills training and opportunities and experiences to help them become empowered and develop positive self-worth.
Through classes, special events and hands-on activities, its members learn about civic responsibility; practical skills, like sewing and using technology; the importance of volunteerism, their cultural heritage, career choices, educational/college opportunities and much more.
For more information on Girls of the World, visit https://girlsoftheworldinc.com/ or call 813-810-1396.