Donald E. Williams, Jr., the author of the recently
published book Prudence Crandall’s
Legacy: The Fight For Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of
Education, will be the featured speaker at a program sponsored by the
Middlesex County Historical Society at 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 13, at
Congregation Adath Israel. Williams will
be joined by Kazimiera Kozlowski, the curator of the Prudence Crandall Museum
in Canterbury, Connecticut, who will offer remarks about the museum.
Prudence Crandall, Connecticut’s Official State Heroine, was
a schoolteacher who fought in the early nineteenth century to integrate her
school in Canterbury and educate black women.
Her acceptance of black girls into the school unleashed a storm of
controversy that catapulted her to national notoriety and drew the attention of
the most prominent pro- and antislavery activists of the day. Crandall was arrested and jailed, and Williams’ account details her legal legacy. Crandall
v. State was the first full-throated defense mounted for civil rights in
United States history. The arguments by
attorneys in Crandall played a role
in two of the most fateful Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education.
Williams served as the President of the Connecticut State
Senate from 2004 through 2014, and represented the 29th Senate District of
Connecticut from 1993 through 2014. In addition to his career in public
service, he has served as an attorney, educator, and journalist. He graduated
from Syracuse University and earned his law degree from Washington and Lee
University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. Copies of the book will be
available for purchase and inscription.
Congregation Adath Israel, located at the corner of Broad
and Old Church Streets, is handicap accessible plus there is parking in the rear of the building.
The program is free and open to the public, although donations are
welcome. For further information,
contact the Historical Society at 860-346-0746.
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