Ric Sheffield, professor emeritus of Legal Studies and Sociology at Kenyon College, will present Ohio Wesleyan's annual Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture.
Sheffield's latest book is "False Promises: The Struggle for Black Voting Rights in 1800s Ohio." It presents narratives about men of color who went to the polls and were denied the right to vote, even after the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
"In this book, I share their stories of hope, courage, and resolve that readers will find both touching and inspiring as well as frustrating and infuriating," states Sheffield, J.D. "Most of these cases and events, encompassing a history largely unknown and certainly not taught, take place in the sparsely populated regions of a Midwest state. What you may find surprising regardless of where you now live is how the voting rights battles in Ohio were some of the most heated and significant of the Reconstruction Era in the entire country."
Learn more at ricsheffield.com.
OWU's Vogel Lecture is made possible through an endowment from their son, Ezra Vogel, Ph.D., a 1950 Ohio Wesleyan graduate (now deceased). He was a retired professor of East Asian Studies at Harvard University and author of the critically acclaimed book, "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China." The lecture is organized by the OWU Department of History. Learn more about the department at owu.edu/history.