Noted authors bring their messages to ISU

Two nationally known speakers will close out Indiana State University’s year-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of its African and African American Studies program.

Thavolia Glymph, an associate professor at Duke University and distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, will speak March 5 at 7 p.m. in the University Hall Theater. She will discuss “Rosa’s War: Enslaved Women in the Battle for Freedom in the Civil War.” 

Glymph is a noted author whose books include “Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household.” 

She also researches enslaved and freed women on the battlefields of the Civil War, focusing on the lives of black women and children in Civil War refugee and labor camps as well as emancipation, Reconstruction and southern women.

Arnold Rampersad, the Sara Hart Kimball Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University, will speak April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Hulman Memorial Student Union, Dede I He will discuss the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson. 

Rampersad has written distinguished works on Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, Arthur Ashe and Ralph Ellison.

Rampersad received unprecedented access to Robinson’s private papers that allowed the author to bring readers close to the legendary ballplayer who became a pivotal figure in race and civil rights. 

Rampersad’s talk is sponsored by the English and history departments, the African and African-American Studies Program, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Terre Haute Rex.

Throughout the 2012-13 school year, Indiana State has celebrated the founding of the African and African American Studies program, which was born from protests during the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Special lectures, panel discussions and a concert have paid homage to the program.

Chris Olsen, chair of the Indiana State history department, said the program’s start was advocated by black and white students as well as many faculty, staff and administrators. 

The program is housed in the history department and includes a major and minor for students as well as classes that are part of the university’s Foundational Studies program.

Both talks are also part of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Community Semester.