A highlight of this year’s 1^st semester was the visit of Dr. Crystal J. Lucky, Ph.D., Assoc. Dean of Baccalaureate Studies for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at Villanova University. Dr. Lucky led an informative seminar on African-American migration in the United States from southern plantations to cities in the northern U.S. states following the Civil War and emancipation. She traced the migration from the southeastern states to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, and Harlem in New York City, and from the southwestern states to Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Oakland. From information concerning the Great Migration, she connected the development of the New Negro Renaissance in Harlem in the 1920’s and 30’s, and the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s.

Dr. Lucky’s lecture held the interest of students and faculty alike and led to a lively discussion of African-American history and the prospects for a biblical solution to the racial divide in America through the influence of our Christian faith. Dr. Lucky answered many questions and dealt with many concerns from a thoroughly biblical perspective and a Christian worldview.

Dr. Lucky has a Th.D. degree in  Biblical Studies from the Manna Bible College of Wilson, NC that earned in 2019, a Ph.D. (1999)  in English from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in African-American Studies (1989) from Yale University. She is married to Dr. Timothy Lucky. The couple lives in Lansdowne, PA, and have one son, Timothy Caleb. Dr. Crystal Lucky is the daughter of two Manna professors, Arvelle and Esther Jones.