Michael Nelson recounts the turbulent presidential election of 1968 and its legacies for today
In his award-winning history Resilient America, Memphis author Michael Nelson narrates the chaotic presidential election of 1968 and argues for the essential stability of the American political system.
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Otis Sanford traces the twists and turns in Memphis politics
Otis Sanford tells a lively history of power and race in From Boss Crump to King Willie, a political history of twentieth-century Memphis, bookended by two towering figures: E.H. Crump and W.W. Herenton.
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Jeanne Theoharis tells the story of the real Rosa Parks
You learned the story of Rosa Parks, the quiet seamstress from Montgomery, but you missed the truth. In The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis depicts Parks as a militant rebel throughout her life. Theoharis will speak on March 23 at 6 p.m. at the River Room in the University Center at the University of Memphis.
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Crystal Sanders explains how federal anti-poverty programs figured in the civil-rights movement
In A Chance for Change, Crystal Sanders expands our understanding of the role of education and federal anti-poverty programs in the civil-rights movement. She will discuss the book at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis on March 16 at 6 p.m.
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James McGrath Morris recovers the life of Ethel Payne, a forgotten crusader in the struggle for black freedom
As a reporter and advocate for racial justice, Ethel Payne shaped American society. James McGrath Morris’s biography of her, Eye on the Struggle, is the winner of the 2015 National Book Award from the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. Morris will speak about the book at 6 p.m. on November 15 at the University of Memphis.
Sarah Bakewell breathes new life into the great existential thinkers
Heidegger, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus—in her enchanting group biography, At the Existentialist Café, Sarah Bakewell shines a light on these great existential writers and the world they made. Bakewell will discuss the book on November 9 at Rhodes College in Memphis.
