University of Southern Maine

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USM Dedicates the Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall on June 1

May 30, 2006

USM will be dedicating the newly renovated auditorium in Luther Bonney Hall on the Portland campus as the Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall with a private reception and program from 5-7 p.m., this Thursday, June 1. Among the speakers will be U. S. Representative Tom Allen and USM President Richard L. Pattenaude. The 240-seat auditorium will feature new seats; informational panels tracing Talbot’s personal and public service history; and large fabric banners with historical photographic images taken from the Gerald E. Talbot Collection. The Collection, part of USM’s African American Collection of Maine and the basis for the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, was a gift to USM from Talbot in 1995.

USM is honoring Talbot in this way for his continuing efforts in support of civil rights and his leadership in education in Maine and the nation. Among his many public service activities, he helped reorganize the Portland NAACP; became the first African American elected to the Maine State Legislature in 1972; and was appointed to the Maine State Board of Education by Governor Brennan in 1980.

What:  Gerald E. Talbot Lecture Hall Dedication

Time/Date:  5-7 p.m., Thursday, June 1

Where:  Luther Bonney Hall, USM’s Portland campus

Editor’s Note:  To arrange access to the Talbot Lecture Hall prior to the event, or for interviews with Talbot, contact Judie O’Malley or Bob Caswell, USM Public Affairs, 780-4200.

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