Kristen Green, author of the New York Times bestseller Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, will speak Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Longwood University’s Jeffers Auditorium.
Green also will visit classes, interact with students and sign copies of her book during her visit. The booksigning in the Chichester Science Center lounge will follow the talk.
The book, published in June to widespread critical acclaim, examines the closing of the Prince Edward County public schools from 1959-64 and her family’s role in that effort to stave off integration. Green is a Farmville native whose grandfather was among the founders of Prince Edward Academy, from which she graduated, a private, originally all-white school established by segregationists in 1959.
"Kristen’s visit will allow us to focus on Longwood’s role in our community conversations about race and education in Farmville, and to consider the university’s role in future endeavors to address the issues," said Dr. David Magill, associate professor of English and one of the event organizers.
Green will speak that morning to students in two sections of the freshman composition course taught by Magill. In a dinner at Moton Museum, Green will have discussions with honors students in a sociology/math course co-taught by Dr. Jo Ellen Pederson, assistant professor of sociology, and Dr. Leigh Lunsford, professor of mathematics.
The book, which Magill called "part memoir, part history and part social critique," is being taught in several Longwood classes, including his freshman composition course and the sociology/math course.
Green lives in Richmond and is a former Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter. Her visit is part of "The Power of Privilege Week," an initiative of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and is co-sponsored by seven other campus organizations or academic departments.
cover of Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County
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