Birmingham to honor Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir

WVAS | By Melanie Hogan

Published October 23, 2023 at 5:16 PM EDT

The City of Birmingham will honor the Carlton Reese Memorial Unity Choir on Friday, Oct. 27during its 2023 “Awaken” event.

The choir was created in 1959 by civil rights icon, the Reverend Fred L Shuttlesworth under the leadership of Mamie Brown Mason and Nims Gay.

In 1960, Carlton Reese, a young gifted musician created a number of freedom songs and revolutionized the choir; founding member and Choir Director Eloise Ford Gaffney says she has fond memories performing in front of civil rights greats including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The event will take place at the Birmingham Museum of Art at 10 a.m.

It is open to the public.

This year’s theme is “Lifting Voices: Changing History.”

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Melanie Hogan

Melanie began her career as a work study student, working in the areas of news reporting, anchoring and news-gathering. After graduating from Alabama State University, she worked as a production assistant at the local NBC affiliate, WSFA-TV. As a News Director at WVAS-FM, Melanie leads her team to produce award- winning newscasts and talk shows. Her professional achievements includes News Reporter of the Year for a number of years and awards for talk show producer, by the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Associated Press. She is an active member of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce. Her goals are to expand the reach of WVAS FM into more homes locally, regionally and nationally.

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