KNOXVILLE — The “Freedom Riders” and their 1960s-era struggle to bring racial justice to segregated Southern states will be the subject of this year’s Charles O. Jackson history lecture at UT Knoxville.
Raymond Arsenault, author and professor of history at the University of South Florida, will discuss Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 9, in the Toyota Auditorium of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. The event is free and open to the public.
“Ray Arsenault is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the civil rights movement,” said Daniel Feller, professor of history at UT Knoxville. “We’re pleased to offer our students, faculty, staff, and the community this chance to learn more about a crucial period in modern American history.”
Arsenault’s writings on the topic served as the basis for the highly honored documentary “Freedom Riders,” which aired on PBS’s “American Experience” film series and won three Emmy awards.
The lecture is made possible by an endowment from Charles O. Jackson, a UT Knoxville history professor and dean from 1969 until his death in 1997.
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C O N T A C T :
Daniel Feller (865-974-7077, dfeller@utk.edu)
Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)