Race Relations Expert to Present Edmondson Lectures

Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Leon F. Litwack will present the 21st annual Charles Edmondson Historical Lectures -- "Wade in the Water: African Americans & Race
Relations" -- March 17-18 at Baylor University.
Litwack's first lecture, "Trouble in Mind: The Age of Jim Crow," will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, in the Meadows Recital Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building. In his second lecture, set for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Litwack's topic will be "A Change is Gonna Come: The Civil Rights Era."
Litwack said in the 1860s, and a century later in the 1960s, "two major struggles, two major civil conflicts" were fought over the meaning of freedom in America. He said his lectures will focus on these chapters in America's history and on subsequent efforts to restructure race relations.
The recipient of numerous teaching awards and honors, Litwack was named one of the Top Ten Teachers in California by California Magazine in 1986. He also received a Pulitzer Prize in History in 1980 and was named a distinguished teacher by the University of California in 1995 and 1971. His many professional activities include serving as the general co-editor of the Harvard Guide to African-American History, and he is a former president of the Organization of American Historians. He has also authored numerous articles and books, and his essays have appeared in numerous publications.
The Edmondson Historical Lectures, sponsored by the history department, are made possible by an endowment established by Dr. E. Bud Edmondson of Longview to honor his father, Charles S.B. Edmondson.
For more information, contact Dr. David Hendon, professor of history, at 710-4620.