Raymond Arsenault, the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, will visit Denison University to give a lecture on "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice," based on his book of the same title. Set for 7 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 1) in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall, the talk is sponsored by the department of history and is free and open to the public.

"Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice" received praise from The New York Times as "authoritative, compelling history" and from the Richmond Times-Dispatch which said "Arsenault has written what will surely become the definitive account of these nonviolent protests."

The associate director of the University Honors Program and co-director of the Florida Studies Program at his university, Arsenault is a specialist in the political, social and environmental history of the American South. He also has authored two other books, "The Wild Ass of the Ozarks: Jeff Davis and the Social Bases of Southern Politics" (1984) and "St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream, 1888-1950" (1988). His article in the Journal of Southern History in 1984 on "The End of the Long Hot Summer: The Air Conditioner and Southern Culture" won the Southern Historical Association's Green-Ramsdell Prize. In addition to his public lecture, Arsenault will meet with Professor Mitchell Snay's class on Southern History, speaking on the "the End of the Long Hot Summer" article and with Assistant Professor Lauren Araiza's class on the Civil Rights Movement.

Arsenault has served as a consultant for numerous museums and public institutions, including the National Park Service, the National Civil Rights Museum and the Rosa Parks Museum. He has edited an anthology with Jack Davis on the environmental history of Florida. He earned his bachelor's degree at Princeton University and his doctorate at Brandeis University.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Raymond Arsenault, author and professor of history at the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, speaking on "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice"; 7 p.m., Thursday (Feb. 1), Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact 740-587-6599 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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