IATC 100th ANNIVERSARY CONVENTION – JUNE 20-23, 2024
Celebrating the Past & Igniting the Torch of Tomorrow |
Keynote Speakers
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Edwin Slipek Richmond 101: History, Tradition, and Architecture "Richmond 101: History, Tradition, and Architecture" will explore the history, rich tradition, and architecture of a 400-year-old contemporary city.
Born in a hospital that is an iconic expression of Art Deco and growing up among the distinctive architecture of Richmond’s Ginter Park, Eddie Slipek started writing about art and architecture for an alternative newspaper in the 1970s and is a generator of architectural discourse in Richmond as the critic for Style Weekly, a professor of architectural history at the Virginia Commonwealth University, and through his presence as a cultural figure in the city. He has designed theatrical sets, hosted exhibitions, documented Richmond through extensively published writings, and co-founded the website ArchitectureRichmond.com. For his writing and teaching he has been awarded honorary membership in the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects and in November 2023 he received the Branch Medallion for his extraordinary patronage of design in Virginia. |
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Elvatrice Parker Belsches
Celebrating Richmond as the Cradle of Black Capitalism Historically, Richmond has been called The Birthplace of Black Capitalism and The Harlem of the South due in large part because of the district known as Jackson Ward. This ward was home to one of the largest African American business districts in America at the turn of the 20th century. According to the Department of the Interior, Jackson Ward remains the largest National Historic Landmark District associated with African-American history and culture in America. The presentation will provide a visual tour of Richmond’s legacy of achievement among its African-American residents. These include medical pioneers, civil rights leaders, education leaders, historic churches, and pioneering bankers. As individuals these men and women have made their mark not only on the history of Richmond but that of the nation as well.
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Richmond area native and resident Elvatrice Parker Belsches earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Hampton University before joining the faculty at her alma mater. She earned a pharmacy degree from the Medical College of Virginia and has done further study in the graduate certificate program in public history at the University of Richmond.
In addition to becoming the author of the pictorial publication "Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia" (Arcadia Publishing), Ms. Belsches is the author of eight biographical entries for the "African American National Biography" (AANB), a collaborative publication of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and the Oxford University Press.
Ms. Belsches was commissioned to research, author, and narrate the "Historic Jackson Ward Podcast Tour" by the National Park Service in 2010. She was the recipient of a grant from Virginia Humanities for research and filming toward a documentary on noted educator Miss Virginia Estelle Randolph, and in 2011 she was honored to serve as the in-studio researcher for Steven Spielberg's motion picture, Lincoln. Some of her contributions can be seen in both the trailer and the film. She has several projects in development.
Ms. Belsches has been interviewed on NPR and has appeared on the NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates in the Richmond area as the result of her research on the Black experience in history. She lectures locally and nationally on the subject.
In addition to becoming the author of the pictorial publication "Black America Series: Richmond, Virginia" (Arcadia Publishing), Ms. Belsches is the author of eight biographical entries for the "African American National Biography" (AANB), a collaborative publication of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and the Oxford University Press.
Ms. Belsches was commissioned to research, author, and narrate the "Historic Jackson Ward Podcast Tour" by the National Park Service in 2010. She was the recipient of a grant from Virginia Humanities for research and filming toward a documentary on noted educator Miss Virginia Estelle Randolph, and in 2011 she was honored to serve as the in-studio researcher for Steven Spielberg's motion picture, Lincoln. Some of her contributions can be seen in both the trailer and the film. She has several projects in development.
Ms. Belsches has been interviewed on NPR and has appeared on the NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates in the Richmond area as the result of her research on the Black experience in history. She lectures locally and nationally on the subject.
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Mike Mason
Carpe Diem! Now and Forever. Mr. Mason says: "We begin our adult lives ready to tackle the world. We are full of energy, ideas, and looking to make meaningful contributions to society through our work. I have found many of my colleagues fear retirement to the extent they never even want to discuss it. Too many of us spend more time considering our next car purchase than our retirement. Why do we fear retirement? I believe retirement is a time of transition, not an ending. It is a time to re-tool ourselves and prepare to write the next…not final chapter of our lives. I plan to walk the audience through the manner in which we can all continue to evolve throughout our lives."
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Mr. Mason was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in May 1980 with a degree in accounting. Upon graduation from college, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps where he served for 5 years, achieving the rank of captain.
Mr. Mason received an appointment as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1985 and served for 23 years, retiring as Executive Assistant Director responsible for the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, accounting for approximately half of the FBI’s operational resources. Mr. Mason also served as Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento Division and subsequently as the Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office. He received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive Service, an award given to the top 5% of the federal government’s executive cadre.
After the FBI, Mr. Mason joined Verizon in 2008 as a Vice-President and Chief Security Officer before being promoted to Senior Vice-President in 2011. In 2014, Mr. Mason was recognized by Security 500 Magazine as one of 2014’s Most Influential Security Executives. In 2017 Black Enterprise Magazine named him one of the country’s Top 300 Black executives.
Mr. Mason serves as a motivational speaker and is the principal of Gladiator Always, LLC. He currently serves as an American Red Cross volunteer Transportation Specialist delivering vital blood products from the Red Cross lab in Richmond, Virginia to area hospitals throughout Central Virginia.
Mr. Mason recently (2022) published his first book, Working in America – Spectator or Gladiator…You Decide. He is the proud father of two sons, one serving as a state trooper with the Washington State Patrol and the other, a former USMC captain now working in the private sector.
Mr. Mason received an appointment as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1985 and served for 23 years, retiring as Executive Assistant Director responsible for the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, accounting for approximately half of the FBI’s operational resources. Mr. Mason also served as Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento Division and subsequently as the Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office. He received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive Service, an award given to the top 5% of the federal government’s executive cadre.
After the FBI, Mr. Mason joined Verizon in 2008 as a Vice-President and Chief Security Officer before being promoted to Senior Vice-President in 2011. In 2014, Mr. Mason was recognized by Security 500 Magazine as one of 2014’s Most Influential Security Executives. In 2017 Black Enterprise Magazine named him one of the country’s Top 300 Black executives.
Mr. Mason serves as a motivational speaker and is the principal of Gladiator Always, LLC. He currently serves as an American Red Cross volunteer Transportation Specialist delivering vital blood products from the Red Cross lab in Richmond, Virginia to area hospitals throughout Central Virginia.
Mr. Mason recently (2022) published his first book, Working in America – Spectator or Gladiator…You Decide. He is the proud father of two sons, one serving as a state trooper with the Washington State Patrol and the other, a former USMC captain now working in the private sector.
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Edward Ayers
Making the Past New History, taught in every school in the country, often seems boring and useless. How might we reimagine American history so that it is engaging, challenging, and truthful? For more, see History's Next Step - magazine - University of Richmond.
Edward Ayers is university professor of the humanities and president emeritus at the University of Richmond. He has won the Bancroft and Lincoln Prizes for his scholarship, been named National Professor of the Year, received the National Humanities Medal, served as president of the Organization of American Historians, and was the founding board chair of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond. He is executive director of New American History, dedicated to making the nation’s history more visible and useful for a broad range of audiences. Dr. Ayers is the author of 6 books and editor of an additional 7 books on the history of nineteenth-century America. His latest book is American Visions: The United States, 1800-1860 (W.W. Norton, 2023). |