Local author Sydney Norton to speak Oct. 19
Join us at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19 in the auditorium as the Friends of the University City Public Library present an evening with Sydney Norton, author of Fighting for a Free Missouri: German Immigrants, African Americans, and the Issue of Slavery.
Sydney J. Norton, an independent scholar, translator, and educator in St. Louis, is the editor and a contributing writer to this collection of ten original essays. She will discuss the story of nineteenth-century German immigrant abolitionists who are often neglected in discussions of Missouri and St. Louis history. These immigrants, many of whom were highly educated and devoted to the ideals of freedom and democracy, fled political persecution in the 1830-40s in their homeland. Settling in Missouri, a pre-Civil War slave state, many of them became abolitionist activists and fervent supporters of Abraham Lincoln and the Union in the emerging Civil War.
Refreshments will be served, and books will be signed after the presentation. This event is intended for adults, but free and open to all.
