BARRY, Ill. -- A weekly speaker series focused on the heritage of African Americans in the Midwest continues Tuesday night at Sprague's Kinderhook Lodge.

Gerald McWorter, a professor of African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a direct descendant of New Philadelphia founder Frank McWorter, will present "African-American History and Struggles for Freedom: Conditions of Subject and Object" at 7 p.m. at the lodge on Ill. 106 between Kinderhook and Barry.

Among his numerous publications, McWorter was editor and chapter author of the influential "Paradigms in Black Studies: Intellectual History, Cultural Meaning and Political Ideology."

His presentation will focus on the history of African-American communities and impacts of racism in the 19th and 20th centuries from his perspective as a scholar in black studies and as a descendant of the founder of New Philadelphia.

The New Philadelphia Association, with cooperation from the lodge and the Illinois State Museum and generous support from the Illinois Humanities Council, sponsors the free seven-part series. Upcoming presentations take place June 24 and July 1 at the lodge and July 16 and 23 at the museum in Springfield.