Hutchins Center: Book Talk with Susan E. Goodman and E. B. Lewis

Date: 

Wednesday, February 3, 2016, 7:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Bookstore, 1256 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA

The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial

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Harvard Book Store and the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research welcome Susan E. Goodman, author of over thirty nonfiction children's books, and award-winning illustrator E. B. Lewis for a presentation of their book The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial. They will discuss what goes into the creation and publication of children's books, the collaboration between author and illustrator, and the research involved in writing nonfiction. The evening will be introduced by Rebecca Lindy Coll, Executive Director of Wondermore.

About The First Step

In 1847, a young African American girl named Sarah Roberts was attending a school in Boston. Then one day she was told she could never come back. She didn't belong. The Otis School was for white children only.

Sarah deserved an equal education, and the Roberts family fought for change. They made history. Roberts v. City of Boston was the first case challenging our legal system to outlaw segregated schools. It was the first time an African American lawyer argued in a supreme court.

These first steps set in motion changes that ultimately led to equality under the law in the United States. Sarah's cause was won when people—black and white—stood together and said, No more. Now, right now, it is time for change!

With gorgeous art from illustrator E. B. Lewis, The First Step is an inspiring look at the first lawsuit to demand desegregation—long before the American Civil Rights movement, even before the Civil War.

Praise

"An important exploration of the struggle for equality and education in this country." —School Library Journal