On February 14th, Lafayette’s Digital Scholarship Services (DSS) and Special Collections and College Archives (SC&CA) are partnering to host a local instance of the Library of Congress Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon. Drop in the Gendebien room, any time between 8:30am and 3:30pm, to help transcribe, and review crowdsourced transcriptions of letters from Frederick Douglass’ personal correspondence. The Library of Congress (LoC) speaker live stream will be broadcast from 12pm to 3pm. Snacks and refreshments will be provided throughout the day and the Library will be giving away 100 FREE COPIES of Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth. All Laf community members welcome, bring your laptop. To coordinate class participation, contact Ana Ramirez Luhrs or Janna Avon.

On February 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm in Hugel 103, Annette Gordon-Reed will present the annual John L. Hatfield ’67 Lecture, “On Juneteenth.” Annette Gordon-Reed is a Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School, and the award-winning author of six books. Her latest book, On Juneteenth, sets out to capture the integral importance of the holiday to American history.

As our nation now recognizes June 19th as a national holiday, On Juneteenth is both an essential account and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is exigent and ongoing. This meaningful and personal talk, based on the book, breathes new life into the historical events that have led us to this moment—and illuminates a new path forward.