June 18 Reading at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Pretty exciting! I'll be reading excerpts from Water and Fire as part of a program on the 1908 Race Riot at 5 p.m., Wednesday, June 18. It's free!

Here's the news release.

SPRINGFIELD – A documentary on the 1908 Springfield Race Riot, “Springfield Had No Shame,” will be shown during a special program Wednesday, June 18 at 5 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. The program is part of the continuing education series for Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum volunteers, and is free and open to the public. A new volunteer orientation session will be held the previous evening at the Presidential Library.

The 30-minute film will be followed by several presentations relating to the Race Riot. Local singer/songwriter Chas Blythe will provide musical selections he has written about the riot. Author Melinda McDonald will read excerpts from her book Water and Fire, which focuses on a young woman, Sheba Tully, who is a maid for Susan Lawrence Dana and follows Sheba as she observes the events in Springfield leading up to the 1908 Race Riot. Author Dennis Camp will give a presentation on poet and author Vachel Lindsay and his relationship to the riot. Lindsay artifacts from the Presidential Library’s collection will be displayed during the evening.

The June 18 program is related to the exhibit, “Something So Horrible: The Springfield Race Riot of 1908” which opens June 14 at the Presidential Library.