UA Sponsors Book Signing and Civil Rights Lecture as Part of African-American Heritage Month

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – As part of the African-American Heritage Month events at The University of Alabama, the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library welcomes author Dr. Patterson Toby Graham for a book signing, lecture and reception.

Graham, the head of special collections at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, will be on campus Feb. 5, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to deliver a lecture on his book “A Right to Read: Segregation and Civil Rights in Alabama’s Public Libraries, 1900-1965.” He will sign books both before and after the 5:30 p.m. lecture. The W.S. Hoole Library is located on the 2nd floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall.

Graham’s research on library segregation has won several awards, including the ALISE-Eugene Garfield Dissertation award, and the Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award. He received his doctorate in Library and Information Studies from UA.

Copies of “A Right to Read: Segregation and Civil Rights in Alabama’s Public Libraries, 1900-1965,” published by The University of Alabama Press, will be available for sale for $31.45.

A small exhibit of materials surrounding segregation in Alabama’s public libraries and “The Rabbits’ Wedding” controversy will be held in conjunction with the lecture and signing. “The Rabbits’ Wedding,” a 1959 children’s book by Garth Williams, told the story of two rabbit friends, one black and one white, who decide that they enjoy each other so much they want to marry. The book, written for children ages 3-7, became fodder for anti-integrationists in Alabama and fueled a battle of censorship, segregation and politics that made nationwide headlines.

Two other exhibits will be on display throughout February in the Hoole Library. The first, “Angela Davis: Portrait of a Revolutionary,” features published materials and collectibles. An exhibit on famed Alabama author and literary legend Harper Lee and her work, “To Kill a Mockingbird” also is on display in the Hoole Library lobby.

For more information, contact the Hoole Special Collections Library at archives@bama.ua.edu or 205/348-0500.