The Civil Rights Movement in Ohio

Dr. Hasan Jeffries will examine the actions of African Americans in Ohio and how they challenged governments to increase freedoms and strengthen democracy by removing color barriers. Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries is a historian and public intellectual whose work explores the African American freedom movement and the enduring struggle for democracy in the United States. He is the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Endowed Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, and the author of Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama's Black Belt, a landmark study of grassroots organizing and Black political power in the Deep South. In addition to his scholarship, he is deeply engaged in public history. He served as lead historian for the redesign of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, and has advised major cultural institutions and National Park Service sites dedicated to civil rights history. He is also the editor of Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement, an award-winning volume that helps educators present this history accurately and effectively. A widely recognized voice on issues of race and democracy, Hasan contributes regularly to national media and public conversations. Through his teaching, writing, and public engagement, he connects the history of voting rights struggles to the challenges shaping American democracy today.