David Ruggles Center 2023 Founders Day Symposium: “Lydia Maria Child in Florence and a Tribute to John H. Bracey, Jr.” Cohosted by Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity.

Our guest speaker is Prof. Lydia Moland, the author of an acclaimed new biography of Lydia Maria Child, a key figure in the national movement to abolish slavery who spent critical years living in Florence. 

Her talk will be preceded by a tribute to John H. Bracey, Jr.: author, activist, scholar and professor in the W.E.B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies at UMass Amherst.  

10:00-11:00: Meet Lydia Moland in the Florence Organic Community Garden where we grow sugar beets on the same land Lydia and David Child did in the 1830s. 

1:00-3:00: A tribute to Dr. Bracey followed by Lydia Moland’s talk: “Gathering Flowers on the Dusty Road of Duty: Lydia Maria Child on Beauty and Reform”. Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity. Doors open at 12:30.

3:30-5:00: Join us at the Ruggles Center to celebrate the life and legacy of John H. Bracey, Jr. with friends and family. Light refreshments provided. 

This event is free of charge but donations are very much appreciated.