HCC Speaker Series,
Tuesday, September 2, 10am,
Gateway Fireside Room
Join Rossmoor’s own library luminary on Tuesday, September 2 at 10:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room as Dr. Wayne Wiegand returns to the History & Culture Club’s Speaker Series.
Wiegand, often referred to as “the Dean of American Library Historians,” is the author of many articles and books and is VP Development of the Rossmoor Scholarship Fund. He was also historical consultant for the PBS documentary “Free for All: The Public Library,” which will be aired on April 29.
At the September meeting, Wiegand will discuss his new book, In Silence or Indifference: Racism and Jim Crow Segregated Public School Libraries, where he takes an unflinching look at librarianship during the Jim Crow era of 1954−1974.
The idealized notion of libraries, charges Wiegand, was actually one of racism in the practice and customs of public school libraries during these decades. In fact, this led to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Paradoxically, during this same period, the library profession was honing an image as a defender of intellectual freedom, the freedom to read, and an opponent of censorship.
In this inaugural interview format, Wiegand will be joined by panelists Mary Taylor and Wayne Emrich and moderator Susan Moxley. Taylor is a social and racial justice activist advocating diversity, equity, and inclusion. Formerly a corporate sales and leadership professional, Taylor is currently Second Vice President of the Democrats of Rossmoor, Chair of the Black Lives Matter Committee of African Americans and Friends, and Chair of the Diversity Consciousness Committee of the Interfaith Council. Following a Fortune 500 accounting career, Emrich became a library assistant in Contra Costa County. A Texas University student in the 1950s, Emrich felt he should do his part to overturn Jim Crow and participated in social, nonviolent activism.