The Power of Voice: 2023 Literature Discussion Series
First Wednesdays at 7pm
Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane)
or on ZOOM (RSVP for link)
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2023 Theme
In 2023 our Power of Voice discussion series will continue with all-new topics. As we did last year, we'll focus on moments in American history when eloquent voices arose, often from the margins, to address important issues, usually related to social justice, in culture and society. Discussions will be led by Dr. John Getz, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University and guest co-hosts. We’ll study the writings of many authors from the 19th and 20th centuries to determine
This series is sponsored by School Outfitters. |
Harriet Beecher Stowe exemplifies the power of voice. During her eighteen years in Cincinnati (1832 -1850), she discovered her voice as a writer, and in 1851, she decided to devote it to the anti-slavery cause.
Horrified by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she wrote to editor Gamaliel Bailey: “Up to this year I have always felt that I had no particular call to meddle with this subject [slavery], and I dreaded to expose even my own mind to the full force of its existing power. But I feel now that the time has come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak.” The result, of course, was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the bestselling blockbuster that awakened many Northerners to the horrors of slavery and helped create the change of heart that would allow the Union to stand firm when the South seceded over slavery. |
2023 Series Schedule
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Wednesday, February 1, 2023: Two Men in the Crossfire
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) Although part of a free state, antebellum Cincinnati was not friendly to abolitionists and African Americans. Begin Black History Month by considering the narratives of two men who made their ways to Cincinnati after being enslaved in the South. Newly free, James Bradley enrolled as a student at Lane Seminary, and Henry Bibb came to our city as a freedom seeker. We’ll also discuss the impact their stories had on Harriet Beecher Stowe when she wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Suggested reading: |
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Wednesday, March 1, 2023: 19th Century Women: Domestic or Discontented?
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) Co-leader: Dr. Christine Anderson, professor emerita of History, Xavier University Start Women's History Month by thinking about the conflicted ideal of the "True Woman" in the 19th-century US. Praise for the "True Woman" by Catharine Beecher, her sister Harriet, and many others sought to elevate the status of women by celebrating their roles at home as wives and mothers, but this ideal was used to confine women to subservience at home and deny them freedom outside it. We'll consider how the stories of three woman authors of the nineteenth century, including Harriet herself, reflect on the ideal of the True Woman and also speak to our time. Suggested reading: |
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Wednesday, April 5, 2023: George Harris's Voice in the Slavery Debate
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) Today it's easy to wonder how anyone could seriously defend slavery, but in the antebellum US, plenty of people did just that. We'll look at how one Southerner, George Fitzhugh, tried to make the case. In contrast we'll consider how effectively two moments of self-expression by George Harris in Uncle Tom's Cabin anticipate and counter Fitzhugh's arguments. We'll also consider the lights this debate shed on controversial issues in the US today. Suggested reading: Please note that the arguments made in these readings will be upsetting to readers and are presented in order to demonstrate the historical context to be discussed. |
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Wednesday, May 3 2023: Native American Women's Voices Past and Present
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) Co-leader: Ms. Emma Baldwin, Citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Teacher at Azalea Montessori School Despite feeling the double bind of being both women and minorities, Native American women from many tribal groups have used their voices to tell tender and powerful stories portraying the humanity of their people and the needs for justice. We'll look at short stories by women from two eras and two very different cultures: Yankton Sioux and Laguna Pueblo Suggested reading: |
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Wednesday, September 6, 2023: The Importance of Literacy Past and Present
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) With the school year now in full swing, it's a good time to look at three figures from different periods in American history who had limited or even no formal education. We'll focus on how Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X compensated by making literacy acquisition a priority and then using their reading and writing skills to improve their own lives and American society. Suggested reading & viewing:
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Wednesday, October 4, 2023: Gothic Stories and Social Criticism Old and New
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) Get into Halloween spirit by reading three Gothic tales, two from Harriet's time and one from ours, to see how these authors use elements of terror and horror to unsettle their audiences and question status quo. Suggested reading: |
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Wednesday, November 1, 2023: An Early Native American Voice for Justice
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) On the first day of Native American Heritage Month, we'll listen to one of the earliest Native American voices crying out for justice for his people. Even as the Trail of Tears was being walked by Native Americans from the Southeast, a Native American from the Northeast spoke out for justice for his own displaced people. Using two readings by Williams Apess we'll consider American history from his early 19th-century Native American perspective and reflect on the relevance of his writing today. Suggested readings by William Apess: |
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023: Parting Words for the Parting Year
7pm Walnut Hills Branch Library (2533 Kemper Lane) Or online via Zoom (RSVP for link) As 2023 draws to a close, we can all use some hope and inspiration for 2024. We'll discuss parting words from or about several Civil Rights activists to see what guidance they may offer for the coming year. Suggested reading: |
Past Series
2022: Power of Voice Discussion Series
2021: After Uncle Tom's Cabin: Black Voices for Justice Discussion Series
2020: Year of the Woman Discussion Series
2021: After Uncle Tom's Cabin: Black Voices for Justice Discussion Series
2020: Year of the Woman Discussion Series
Series Sponsors |
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