Apr 13 - Driving While Black: A Conversation with Historian, Author, and Documentarian Gretchen Sorin

April 13 (Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.) Driving While Black: A Conversation with Historian, Author, and Documentarian Gretchen Sorin 

Advance registration is required for this free Zoom program at: http://bit.ly/2No73FD. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Join Dr. Gretchen Sullivan Sorin for a free, virtual program on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. The presentation is based on Dr. Sorin’s book Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights, which was ranked one of Bloomberg's Best Nonfiction Books of 2020. Dr. Sorin’s book represents decades of research, interviews, photographs, and records that convey both the opportunities and dangers black motorists faced—and continue to face—on the road. From the relief of independent mobility, to the hostility of sundown towns and systemic racism, to the automobile as a personal status symbol, to the unique businesses that catered to African American travelers, Dr. Sorin takes readers on a road trip of American history, culture, resilience, and ingenuity. The book, which can be purchased at Ben Franklin/MindFair Books, also formed the basis of the documentary “Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America,” co-directed by Dr. Sorin and Ric Burns. This documentary, which first aired in October 2020, is now available for free public viewing at: https://www.pbs.org/video/driving-while-black-race-space-and-mobility-in-america-achvfr/

Dr. Sorin earned a BA from Rutgers University in American Studies, an MA in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program / SUNY Oneonta, and a PhD from SUNY Albany in History. Dr. Sorin is a Distinguished Professor and Director of The Cooperstown Graduate Program as well as a museum consultant and scholar. The program will begin with an introduction to her findings, followed by a conversation facilitated by Dr. Meredith Gadsby, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies at Oberlin College. Dr. Gadsby also serves as the Special Assistant to the President for Racial Equity and Diversity, and Commission CoChair of the Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity at Oberlin College.

The program will end with an opportunity for viewers to submit questions. 

 

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