The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) was established on September 9, 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. ASALH is the Founder of Black History Month and its mission is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about black life, history and culture to the global community.

Among the celebrations marking ASALH’s 2015 centennial year is the 89th Annual Black History Luncheon, to be held on February 28, 2015. This event will draw ASALH members and others from around the country to Washington, D.C., to honor past and present African-American luminaries and to hear prominent speakers on the year’s chosen Black History Theme: “A Century of Black Life, History and Culture.” A related Featured Authors Event to be held the same day will showcase an array of prominent authors and noteworthy books related to African-American history and experiences.

From December 2014 through February 2015, Perisphere continued its layout and design role from past years for ASALH’s 52-page Luncheon Souvenir Journal (NOTE: large file) in coordination with the organization’s designated project manager. The Luncheon Journal is one of the prominent takeaways for event participants and serves as a record for posterity, and thus needs to be designed with care and attention to detail.

Perisphere’s work included the setup and review of a tightly choreographed production schedule. Initial efforts focused on incorporating the look-and-feel of the organization’s centennial design collateral and Eyeclectic Media’s eye-catching artwork, the latter of which would serve as the Luncheon Journal cover. Subsequent internal layout included copy and design review of camera-ready ads for inclusion and proper placement, layout and typesetting of all text pages, and from-scratch design of a number of pages and elements. Finally, a collaborative editing effort and further internal copy editing helped produce a final document that we hope honors the organization’s celebration of 100 years.

In related efforts, Perisphere was also engaged to create a handout for the Featured Authors Event and worked with ASALH to create print and digital design collateral for social media, advertisements and registration forms for the Luncheon, as well as promotional flyers for its 2015 Black History Month Kit.

We look forward to continuing to work with ASALH as it enters a second century of historical scholarship, advocacy and support of African-American life and history.