UNT Libraries will welcome Dr. Max Krochmal, Associate Professor of History at Texas Christian University and author of [Blue Texas: The Making of a Multiracial Democratic Coalition in the Civil Rights Era][] as the first speaker in the new Texas Edges Lecture Series.

Dr. Krochmal’s lecture, titled “Civil Rights in Black and Brown: Oral Histories of the Liberation Struggles in Texas,” will feature the Civil Rights in Black and Brown Oral History Project, a statewide research initiative that has collected more than 530 new interviews to reconstruct the hidden history of the overlapping African American and Mexican American civil rights movements in Texas.

The lecture will take place from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, November 29 in Willis Library, Room 250H and is free to the public.

Dr. Krochmal hopes to provide needed insight into the intertwining histories of the African American and Mexican American civil rights movements in Texas.

“Not one but two insurgencies challenged [Texas]’s twin caste systems, and they did so in intimate conversation. They flourished in unlikely places, urban and rural, and spanned decades before and after 1965, continuing into the 21st century. Despite the slow pace of change, activists of all ages forged powerful movements for self-determination. Some filed lawsuits for school integration and canvassed door-to-door to win political power. Others picketed to demand criminal justice reform and sought to improve public services in their cities. Still more activists joined unions and built neighborhood associations to challenge ongoing economic injustice. Across the Lone Star State, organizers pointed out the ways in which integration failed to produce equity, prompting them to also build their own community-controlled healthcare, educational, and cultural institutions. Women played leading roles throughout these campaigns, challenging the sexism of their comrades as well as that of the larger society. The polyglot activists also developed a variety of relationships with one another, from protracted collaboration to stiff competition—and everything in between.”

The Texas Edges Lecture Series aims to emphasize innovative work pushing boundaries in various directions – digital in many cases, but other ways, too. This is a new lecture series to take place every fall in collaboration with the UNT Department of History and The Portal to Texas History.