William Wells Brown: An African-American Life
Ezra Greenspan will discussed his book "William Wells Brown: An African American Life." Brown (1814-1884) was born a slave and kept functionally illiterate until he was 19, when he escaped. He became an agent of the Underground Railroad, an antislavery activist and a self-taught writer and orator. In 1853 Brown wrote "Clotel," the first novel by an African American. It is a fictionalized account of the fate of Thomas Jefferson's black daughters and was controversial in its day. Speaker Biography: Ezra Greenspan is Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Chair in Humanities and professor of English at Southern Methodist University. He is also the editor of the anthology "William Wells Brown: 'Clotel' and Other Writings." For transcript and more information, visit www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=7971
