Author Talk: Dr. Judith Giesberg In Conversation With Dr. Kidada Williams

The Author Series Committe is pleased to welcome professor of history and Robert M. Birmingham chair in the humanities at Villanova University Dr. Judith Giesberg. Dr. Giesberg will be discussing her new book, Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families. Drawing from an archive of nearly five thousand letters and advertisements, Last Seen is the riveting, dramatic story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery. Joining Dr. Giesberg will be joined by Wayne State University professor of African American history Dr. Kidada Williams.

Copies of Last Seen will be available for purchase from Detroit's own Source Booksellers!

About Dr. Giesberg: Judith Giesberg is professor of history and Robert M. Birmingham chair in the humanities at Villanova University. She is the founder and director of the Last Seen archive, and the author of several books on Civil War history, including Army at Home, Emilie Davis’s Civil War, and Last Seen.

About Dr. Williams: Kidada E. Williams delves into the lives of African American victims and survivors of racist violence. Her work, I Saw Death Coming, was Longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction and won the 2024 Organization of American Historians’ Civil War and Reconstruction Book Award. She is also the author of They Left Great Marks on Me, co-editor of #CharlestonSyllabus, a groundbreaking initiative, and the host and co-producer of “Seizing Freedom,” a podcast docudrama that brings to life the epic story of African Americans’ fight for freedom during the Civil War Era. Her contributions have earned her an election as a fellow in the Society of American Historians, and she currently serves as a Professor of History at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Questions? Email [email protected]!

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