SLCL and Missouri Humanities Host Ethel Morgan Smith with Jane Smiley

St. Louis County Library’s Favorite Author Series, Missouri Humanities, and The Novel Neighbor present Ethel Morgan Smith, author of “Path to Grace: Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement.” Smith will be in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jane Smiley.

The event will take place on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis MO, 63123.

The program is presented in partnership with Missouri Humanities and the Library of Congress Center for the Book – Missouri Affiliate. The event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from The Novel Neighbor.

The civil rights movement is often defined narrowly, relegated to the 1950s and 1960s and populated by such colossal figures as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Many forget that the movement was bigger than the figures on the frontline and that it grew from intellectual and historical efforts that continue today. In “Path to Grace: Reimagining the Civil Rights Movement,” Ethel Morgan Smith shines light on unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, the ordinary citizens working behind the scenes to make an impact in their communities.

Through 11 original interviews, Smith highlights the contributions ordinary people made to the civil rights movement. Some of these brave warriors worked at the elbows of icons while others were clearing new paths, all passing through history without wide recognition. “Path to Grace” introduces readers to new witnesses and largely neglected voices. Also included are interviews with such esteemed but less studied figures as writer Gloria Naylor, poet Nikki Giovanni, fashion designer Ann Lowe, and educator Constance Curry.

Ethel Morgan Smith is author of “From Whence Cometh My Help: The African American Community at Hollins College” and “Reflections of the Other: Being Black in Germany.” Her essay “Love Means Nothing” won the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Prize. “Path to Grace” won the 2023 Eudora Welty Prize from the Mississippi University for Women – awarded to an outstanding work of scholarship on Women’s Studies, Southern Studies or Modern Letters.

Conversation partner Jane Smiley is a St. Louis native and the author of numerous novels, including “A Thousand Acres,” which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the Last Hundred Years Trilogy: “Some Luck,” “Early Warning,” and “Golden Age.”  

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.