|
For more information please contact: Mike Miller | (512) 974-7436
July 20, 2009
Meet the Author, Michelle Mears
The Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, and the Austin History Center Association invite you to Meet the Author, Michelle Mears on Sunday, August 16 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 810 Guadalupe St. Mears will discuss her new book And Grace Will Lead Me Home and the births and deaths of the Freedmen communities in and around Austin after the Civil War. A book signing will follow her presentation and light refreshments will be provided. The discussion is free and open to the public. For more information please call 512-974-7400 or visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, many freed slaves in central Texas began new lives in or near the capital city. At least fifteen freedmen communities formed in Austin proper and nearby rural settlements, but most, for various reasons, had disappeared by 1928 -- when the city implemented a master plan that encouraged blacks to move into a single section of town. Covering the births and deaths of these communities, And Grace Will Lead Me Home also illuminates what life was like for African Americans who lived there. Michelle M. Mears's careful combing of archival sources fleshes out life's amenities as well as the essentials of life for freedmen and their families.
About the Author
Michelle M. Mears, archivist at the University of North Texas, has been researching African American history in the Austin area since 2000. A native of Austin, Texas, she has held archivist and librarian positions with Scott and White Hospital in Temple, the Texas Historical Commission in Austin, and the Research Medical Library at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
###
Please direct press inquiries to:
| (512) 974-7379
Public Information Specialist
Austin Public Library
|
