January 23, 2020: Expanding Civil Rights Memories: Lillian E. Smith

[For this year’s MLK week series, I’ll highlight under-remembered figures, histories, and stories that can expand our collective memories of the Civil Rights Movement. Leading up to a special weekend post on 21^st century voices!]

As is pretty much always the case when I write about the need to better remember figures (or histories, or stories, or texts, or or or), I’m using myself as a case study, rather than in any way pretending that I’ve got it all figured out. That’s particularly evident when it comes to the amazing Lillian E. Smith, about whom I’ve only learned in the last year or so thanks to my friend Matthew Teutsch taking over as the new Director of the Smith Center. But having begun to learn about Smith, I’ve quickly realized how indispensable a voice she is for so many reasons, including how she can help us expand our collective memories of the long Civil Rights Movement. Check out this November Saturday Evening Post piece of mine on Smith for a lot more on what makes her such a unique and powerful writer and voice!

Last post tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What do you think? Civil Rights figures, histories, or stories you’d want to add to our collective memories?