Join author Steve Luxenberg for a talk and Q&A discussion on his critically-acclaimed new book, Separate, a myth-shattering narrative of how a nation embraced "separation" and its pernicious consequences.
Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case synonymous with "separate but equal," created remarkably little stir when the justices announced their near-unanimous decision on May 18, 1896. Yet it is one of the most compelling and dramatic stories of the nineteenth century. Wending its way through a half-century of American history, Separate draws from letters, diaries, and archival collections to tell the story of Plessy v. Ferguson through the eyes of the people caught up in the case. Mr. Luxenberg's talk will explore the origins of racial separation, the people caught up in the Plessy case, how the ruling came to embrace and protect racial separation, and why its reverberations are still felt today.
Steve Luxenberg is an associate editor at The Washington Post and an award-winning author. During his forty years as a newspaper editor and reporter, starting at The Baltimore Sun where he worked for 11 years before joining The Post, Mr. Luxenberg has overseen reporting that has won numerous awards for his reporters, including two Pulitzer Prizes. He was the editor of The Post Sunday Outlook section from 1996 to 2005.
His first book was the critically-acclaimed Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret (May 2009). Mr. Luxenberg's new book, Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation (February 2019), was named a New York Times Editor's Choice, as well as Best Book of the Month by Amazon and Goodreads.
Interesting Fact: Chief Justice Melville Fuller owned and lived in the DACOR Bacon House during Plessy v. Ferguson. Justice Fuller periodically had his justice colleagues over to the House to discuss cases "in chambers" before they handed them down. The ruling for Plessy v. Ferguson was likely deliberated over in the DACOR Bacon House - a very striking and important piece of our House's history, making the location particularly apt for a discussion of Mr. Luxenberg's book.
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