Thursday, October 23, 7:00 pm

Author and historian, Dr. Raymond Arsenault, will be presenting a special screening of the film Freedom Riders (Dir. Stanley Nelson, 2010). The film, which won 3 Emmys and a George Peabody Award, is based on Arsenault's book titled Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (Oxford University Press, 2006). He will deliver a lecture preceding the film, and lead a discussion and Q&A at the film's conclusion.

This is a free community screening.  Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

ABOUT THE GUEST PRESENTERS:

Raymond (Ray) Arsenault is the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History and Chairman of the Department of History and Politics at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, where he has taught since 1980. He received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1969 and Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1981, and specializes in the political, social and environmental history of the American South.  Besides Freedom Riders, he has published numerous books, including Paradise Lost? (2005), an anthology (co-edited with Jack Davis) on the environmental history of Florida, The Changing South of Gene Patterson: Journalism and Civil Rights, 1960-1968 (2002), and The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America (2009). Since 1996, he and USF history colleague Gary Mormino have served as the co-editors of the University Press of Florida's highly acclaimed Florida History and Culture book series.  An abridged version of Arsenault's book Freedom Riders was released in 2011 by Oxford University Press (NY). He has been awarded the Green-Ramsdell and Owsley Awards of the Southern Historical Association and numerous human rights and social justice awards including the 2003 Nelson Poynter Civil Liberties award of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Leonard (Len) Lempel received his B.A. in History from the University of Akron, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Social Science from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.  A Professor of History at Daytona State College, Len teaches courses in United States and African American history.  Before coming to Daytona State in 1996, he was a Professor of History and Social Science at Bethune-Cookman University for sixteen years.  Len has numerous publications and has made several presentations at professional conferences and community forums, mostly on the history of Daytona Beach's African American community, race relations, and political activity.  In February 2014, he co-produced (with Eric Breitenbach, Preston Root, Buz McKim, and Fayn LeVeille) and co-wrote (with Eric Breitenbach) the documentary film Hoppin' Rattlesnakes: Oral Histories of Beach Racing in Volusia County 1903-1958 (directed by Eric Breitenbach). Len is currently President of the Florida Historical Society, a member of the Southern Historical Association, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Halifax Historical Society. He is also the editor of the Halifax Historical Society's journal, The Halifax Herald, and is a frequent contributor of articles to that publication.

This screening is part of the Southeast Museum of Photography's film series commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The film series runs on select Thursdays through November 20, 2014, and was curated by Daytona State College history professor, Leonard (Len) Lempel, with assistance from the College's Center for Interdisciplinary Writing and Research (CIWR).  Len will be providing introductory comments, Q&A and commentary for the remaining films in this series.