Press Releases
"Black Founders" Women’s History Night with Award-Winning Author Dr. Kerri Greenidge, March 24
March 3, 2023Pay-As-You-Wish Admission Includes Access to Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia Special Exhibition
Discussion with Greenidge and Q+A Also Will Be Livestreamed Online
Award-winning author and historian Dr. Kerri K. Greenidge will join the Museum of the American Revolution for Black Founders Women’s History Night on Friday, March 24, 2023, from 5:15 – 8 p.m. Greenidge will discuss her recent book The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family, which was named one of the best books of 2022 by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Oprah Daily, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Boston Globe.
The discussion and Q+A with Greenidge, hosted by Museum Director of Education and Community Engagement Adrienne G. Whaley, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed for online audiences. After the discussion, guests will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of The Grimkes and have it signed by the author.
Pay-as-you-wish admission to the event includes access to the Museum’s new special exhibition Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia, which explores the stories of three generations of the Forten family, a family of free Black Philadelphians, and their fight for abolition and equality. The event also includes access to Cross Keys Café for food and drink specials for purchase; storytelling by costumed living historian Hannah Wallace; and a hands-on stitching activity inspired by the “The Anti-Slavery Alphabet” to take home. Tickets can be purchased here.
Event Schedule
5:15 – 8 p.m. Black Founders exhibit access, in-gallery talks, costumed living historians, stitching activities, and food and drink specials in Cross Keys Café
5:30 p.m. Join Young Friends Members in Black Founders to meet Hannah Wallace, an interpreter in residence with the Museum’s Meet the Revolution costumed living history series, who will share her favorite stories about Charlotte Vandine Forten in connection three generations of women in Black Founders.
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Discussion and Q&A, followed by book signing
“[A] brilliant new book . . .The Grimkes is by turns heartbreaking, entertaining, and thought-provoking: a triumph.” – The Boston Globe
The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family is a sweeping biography that explores the prominent Grimke family, including the legendary abolitionist Grimke sisters as well as the previously untold stories of the Black members of their family. The Grimkes were allies in the anti-slavery cause alongside members of the Forten family, whose stories are explored in Black Founders. Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke were some of the earliest members of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, which Charlotte Vandine Forten and her daughters helped to establish.
The Forten and Grimke families are also related through the 1878 marriage of James Forten’s granddaughter Charlotte L. Forten and Francis J. Grimke, the African American nephew of Sarah and Angelina Grimke. Francis was the son of Henry Grimke and Nancy Weston, a woman of African descent who was enslaved by Henry Grimke. Francis later became a prominent African American minister and helped to establish the NAACP.
“There is plenty of little-known American history in The Grimkes . . . An intimate and provocative account of a family’s intergenerational struggle to remake itself.” – New York Times Book Review
About Dr. Kerri K. Greenidge
Dr. Kerri Greenidge is the Mellon Assistant Professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University, where she also co-directs the African American Trail Project. She is the author of Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter (2019). Listed by the New York Times as one of its top picks of 2019, the book is the first biography of Boston editor William Monroe Trotter written in nearly 50 years. The book received the Mark Lynton Prize in History, the Massachusetts Book Award, the J. Anthony Lukas Award, the Sperber Award from Fordham University, and the Peter J. Gomes Book Prize from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Black Radical was also short-listed for the Stone Book Award from the Museum of African American History, Boston, the Cundill History Prize, and the Plutarch Award for Best biography. Her most recent book, The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in An American Family (2022) was recently listed as a best book of the year by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Boston Globe, among other publications. Her writings have appeared in the Massachusetts Historical Review, the Radical History Review, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the Guardian.
About Museum of the American Revolution
The Museum of the American Revolution uncovers and shares compelling stories about the diverse people and complex events that sparked America’s ongoing experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government. Through the Museum’s unmatched collection, immersive galleries, powerful theater experiences, and interactive elements, visitors gain a deeper appreciation for how this nation came to be and feel inspired to consider their role in ensuring that the promise of the American Revolution endures. Located just steps away from Independence Hall, the Museum serves as a portal to the region’s many Revolutionary sites, sparking interest, providing context, and encouraging exploration. The Museum, which opened on April 19, 2017, is a private, non-profit, and non-partisan organization. For more information, visit www.AmRevMuseum.org or call 877.740.1776.