CitizensNet

March 27, 2018

Houston Public Library Quarterly Author Series Presents Wayne Wiegand

Houston Public Library Quarterly Author Series (HPLQ) highlights a notable author each season throughout the year, and this Spring the Library features historian and author Wayne Wiegand. Wiegand co-authored The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South: Civil Rights and Local Activism with Shirley A. Wiegand. She is a professor emerita of law at Marquette University.

Wiegand will discuss the history of public libraries as seen through the lens of racial discrimination and direct action by a restless generation fighting for equality to make the institution truly free and open to all. The presentation includes video, photos, and items from the Houston Public Library's Houston Metropolitan Research Center.

The community is invited to the HPLQ event on Monday, April 20, 2018 at the Julia Ideson Building on 550 McKinney, 77002, 832-393-1313. This event is free and open to the public. For more details visit: www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832-393-1313.

About the Book
In The Desegregation of Public Libraries in the Jim Crow South, Wayne A. and Shirley A. Wiegand tell the comprehensive story of the integration of southern public libraries. As in other efforts to integrate civic institutions in the 1950s and 1960s, the determination of local activists won the battle against segregation in libraries. In particular, the willingness of young black community members to take part in organized protests and direct actions ensured that local libraries would become genuinely free to all citizens.