James W.C. Pennington, Black Abolitionist, with Christopher Webber

Learn the incredible story of a forgotten 19th century hero: a former slave who became a Yale scholar, minister, and an international leader of the Antebellum abolitionist movement. James Pennington, 19 years old and illiterate, escaped from slavery in 1827 and soon became a leading voice against slavery. Pennington traveled widely in Britain and Europe to gain support for the American abolition movement, and wrote the first-ever "History of the Colored People" plus a careful study of the moral basis for civil disobedience, which was echoed decades later by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Scholar and local author Christopher Webber will read from his biography, "American to the Backbone: the Life of James W.C. Pennington." Copies will be available for purchase & autographing.