Laura Wexler, from Yale University, will speak about “Frederick Douglass: On Photography” on November 9, 2017 from 7-8 p.m. in the Bayley Room in Beeghly Library, 43 Rowland Ave., Delaware, OH 43015. The event is open to the public.
About the Speech
In the 1860s, Frederick Douglass gave several public lectures about the importance of the then-new invention of photography. In “Pictures and Progress” he shared his vision of the role he hoped photography would play in fostering a more democratic society after the Civil War. Along with Sojourner Truth, Douglass thus became one of the first American theorists of the medium. This lecture engages with his critical thought in the context of his time, and ours, with clear relevance to issues surrounding African-American control of representation and the Black Lives Matter movement.