Conscience of the Congress: John Lewis and the Politics of Voting October 24, 2024 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
New Haven Museum 114 Whitney Avenue New Haven, Connecticut 06510 Date & Time Thu, Oct 24, 2024 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM Venue Details New Haven Museum 114 Whitney Avenue New Haven, Connecticut 06510 Register for this free event here: https://qrco.de/bfGI9t
Description The 2024 election is the perfect time to discuss the career of civil rights hero and congressman John Lewis, who helped bring about the Voting Rights Act and then fought for voting rights his whole career. David Greenberg is a professor of History and of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University. His latest book is a biography of Congressman John Lewis, forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in October. A Guggenheim Foundation, NEH, and Cullman Center fellow, he is the author or editor of several books on American history and politics including Nixon's Shadow: The History of an Image (2003) and Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency (2016). Formerly acting editor of The New Republic and columnist for Slate, he now writes regularly for Politico, Liberties, and many other scholarly and popular publications. He holds a PhD in history from Columbia University and a BA from Yale and lives with his family in Manhattan.
The 2024 election is the perfect time to discuss the career of civil rights hero and congressman John Lewis, who helped bring about the Voting Rights Act and then fought for voting rights his whole career. Scholar and author David Greenberg will present “John Lewis and the Politics of Voting,” at the New Haven Museum on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m. Register for this free event here: https://qrco.de/bfGI9t Greenberg will base his presentation on his newly released biography, “John Lewis: A Life.” Greenberg notes that Lewis’s commitment to voting and voting rights is as timely as ever. Born into poverty in rural Alabama, Lewis would become second only to Martin Luther King, Jr. in his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. He was a Freedom Rider who helped to integrate bus stations in the South, a leader of the Nashville sit-in movement, the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, and the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which he made into one of the major civil rights organizations. He may be best remembered as the victim of a vicious beating by Alabama state troopers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he nearly died. Greenberg will trace Lewis’s life through the post-Civil Rights years when he headed the Voter Education Project, which enrolled millions of African American voters across the South. The book reveals the little-known story of his political ascent first locally in Atlanta, and then as a member of Congress. Tapped to be a part of the Democratic leadership in Congress, he earned respect on both sides of the aisle for the sacrifices he had made on behalf of nonviolent integration in the South and came to be known as the “conscience of the Congress.” With new details about Lewis’ personal and professional relationships, Greenberg’s presentation will offer an appreciation of the life and career and commitments of a man whose heroism during the Civil Rights Movement helped to bring America a new birth of freedom.
New Haven, Connecticut
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