Steve Luxenberg chronicles the characters behind Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decision that sanctioned racial segregation
In Separate, Steve Luxenberg provides a rich, multi-layered narrative of race in 19th-century America, culminating with the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case. Luxenberg will discuss Separate at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.
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Daniel Brook chronicles the shifting status of mixed-race elites in the 19th-century South
In The Accident of Color, Daniel Brook tells the revealing story of the mixed-race elite in Charleston and New Orleans during the 19th century. Brook will appear at Novel in Memphis on June 27 at 6:00 p.m.
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Kwame Alexander talks with Chapter 16 about basketball, family, and the rules of life
In this interview, which first appeared at Chapter 16 in 2015, Kwame Alexander reflects on basketball, music, political consciousness, and the challenges and rewards of writing. Alexander will appear at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library in Memphis on April 22 and at Lipscomb University in Nashville on April 23.
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Tara Zahra’s The Great Departure gives a sweeping history of European migration to the U.S.
In The Great Departure, Tara Zahra chronicles the complicated meanings of European migration to the United States. The MacArthur Fellow will speak on March 14 at the University of Memphis.
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Brooks Lamb tells the history of Overton Park through the eyes of Memphians
In Overton Park: A People’s History, Brooks Lamb, a 2017 graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, recounts the long and vibrant history of the park at the heart of Midtown Memphis.
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In Fault Lines, Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer explain the origins of political polarization
In Fault Lines, Princeton University historian Kevin M. Kruse, a Nashville native—along with his co-author and Princeton colleague, Julian E. Zelizer—has written a lively and insightful look at American history since 1974, with a particular emphasis on explaining our current partisan political culture.
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