John Hope Franklin and Ray Arsenault
An extraordinary talk and book signing by two outstanding authors.

 

Ray Arsenault & John Hope Franklin

Ray Arsenault & John Hope Franklin







 

Program Overview

An evening with John Hope Franklin and Ray Arsenault to celebrate the publication of John Hope's autobiography and Ray's comprehensive Narrative on the Freedom Riders.

John Hope Franklin

Mirror to America : The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin Mirror to America : The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin

At 90, Franklin recalls his extraordinary life. Born in the Oklahoma territory in 1915 and descended from slaves, he studied at Harvard, taught at some of the nation's most prestigious universities, served on committees for FDR and Bill Clinton, published seminal histories of blacks in America and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in civil rights. Franklin strove to evade the draft in WWII after being treated shamefully by the draft board when he tried to enlist, and did research for Thurgood Marshall in Brown v. Board of Education. Every aspect of Franklin's life has been influenced by the institutionalized racism he's experienced since he was six, when he was forced off a train for sitting in a car reserved for whites.


Ray Arsenault

Freedom Riders : 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (Pivotal Moments in American History)Freedom Riders : 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (Pivotal Moments in American History)

The definitive account of a dramatic and indeed pivotal moment in American history, a critical episode that transformed the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Raymond Arsenault offers a meticulously researched and grippingly written account of the Freedom Rides, one of the most compelling chapters in the history of civil rights. Arsenault recounts how in 1961, emboldened by federal rulings that declared segregated transit unconstitutional, a group of volunteers--blacks and whites--traveled together from Washington DC through the Deep South, defying Jim Crow laws in buses and terminals, putting their bodies and their lives on the line for racial justice. The book paints a harrowing account of the outpouring of hatred and violence that greeted the Freedom Riders in Alabama and Mississippi. With characters and plot lines rivaling those of the most imaginative fiction, this is a tale of heroic sacrifice and unexpected triumph.




   

Program Date & Time

03/28/06
7:00 pm

Admission

$25 donation

A light supper will be provided. Books will be available for purchase.

Proceeds from this special event will help to underwrite our educational programs and the St. Petersburg Oral History Project.