The Fort Bend County Library System got a jump start on this year’s Black History Month celebration with a display of small African and slave-related artifacts —showcased since mid-January—at the Missouri City Branch Library.

Missouri City Branch manager Cecillia Shearron-Hawkins said, “Black History Month isn’t until February, but with Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 19 and the inauguration of our first African-American president on the following day, we decided to go ahead and put up the display so that our kids could be looking at it through those events as well. ”

Later in the month, the George Memorial Branch Library in Richmond will host a style show featuring slave clothes, African clothes and modern dress, designed and created by Rosenberg resident J. Bruce White. Scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. in the meeting room at the George Library, the style show is free and open to the public.

Americans have recognized black history annually in some way since 1926, first as Negro History Week and later as Black History Month. However, black history had barely begun to be studied —or even documented—when the tradition originated. With the advent of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Americans of all ethnic backgrounds became more aware of the African-American contribution to the nation ’s history.

The George Memorial Branch Library has celebrated Black History Month for more than 20 years, according to Jo Truell, library staff member in charge of programming for the branch. In recent years, local playwright and theater company director Reba McIntire-Kindred, has written a play for Black History Month, which was always performed at the George Library and at the Missouri City Civic Center. McIntire-Kindred was not available this year, so Truell began searching for a replacement idea. “I wanted to do something to represent Black History Month; we had been doing it for 20 years. I felt like we had to do something; we couldn ’t let it drop.”

Truell knew local fashion designer, J. Bruce White, through the Uniques, McIntire-Kindred ’s theater troupe. Because she knew White’s background in theater and in fashion design, Truell came up with the idea to have a style show and approached White about the idea. He

White, who is a college-level instructor of education, was encouraged to hone his design skills while working on his bachelor ’s degree at Bay Ridge Christian College in Kendleton. But, his upbringing in South Carolina triggered his original interest in fashion.

“I was born in Sumter, S.C. In the South, women like my mother and aunts, who were all beauticians or nurses by trade, all dressed very well with hats and gloves, ” White said. “I came from a broken family, so my mentors were my mom and aunts and church people. I watched my mom fix ladies ’ hair. Sometimes she would let me help.”

When White married, he bought a sewing machine as a birthday present for his wife, Willie, a staff member at the George Library. “That sewing machine sat there for three months, and nobody touched it,” White said. “I said, ‘One of us is going to sew.’ I didn’t know how to even thread a machine.” But, that didn’t stop him. He went to the fabric store and bought some fabric and a pattern and taught himself to sew. White says his first attempt at sewing wasn ’t too successful, but as the years went by, he kept at it. “Two girls in college mentored me and pushed me to improve.” Now, he designs his own styles and is developing a reputation as a talented designer. “I like things that are unique, but not bizarre,” he said.

White created all the outfits his models will be wearing for the style show. He plans to present the show in three segments. The first segment will focus on slave outfits, such as flour sack dresses and coveralls. Segment two will feature African garments, and the final segment will focus on accessorizing to pull an outfit together and make it dressy.

 White’s fashion advice for everyone is: “You must wear your clothes, and not let your clothes wear you. You must choose your fabrics and styles well to suit your individual style and personality. ”

For a look at African clothing and African-American fashions over the past 150 years, don ’t miss the Black History Month Style Show at the George Memorial Branch Library on Feb. 24. No reservations necessary.