Rachel Jamison Webster with Benjamin Banneker and Us:
Eleven Generations of an American Family
Tuesday, April 2, 6:00–7:00 p.m. (ET)
Moderated by Dr. Kendra T. Field, Tufts University
and American Ancestors’ 10 Million Names
In partnership with GBH Forum Network
Cost: Free
Join us on an unforgettable genealogical quest—an author’s exploration of her family and its history, brought to life in her new memoir-style work named a Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker. Don’t miss Rachel Webster’s presentation and conversation with historian Dr. Kendra T. Field about her experience connecting with relatives across lines of color and culture, back to the time of Thomas Jefferson, and what her research revealed about our country and racial past.
Rachel Jamison Webster is a Professor of Creative Writing in the English Department at Northwestern University and the author of four books of poetry. She has developed writing workshops with the National Urban League, Ancestral Medicine, Chicago Public Schools, and Gallery 37, receiving a Hewlett Fellowship for her implementation of diversity education. Rachel’s essays, poems, and stories are frequently published in anthologies and outlets including Poetry, the Southern Review, and the Yale Review.
Kendra T. Field is Associate Professor of History and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University. She is author of Growing Up with the Country: Family, Race, and Nation after the Civil War, which traces her ancestors' migratory lives after the Civil War, and is currently completing The Stories We Tell, a history of African American genealogy from the Middle Passage to the Present. She is Chief Historian of the collaborative project 10 Million Names, initiated by American Ancestors.
