Civil Rights Expert Andrew M. Manis to Speak at UNCA

Andrew M. Manis to Speak March 21

UNC Asheville will host a talk on "Religion in the Civil Rights Movement: The Case of Birmingham’s Fred Shuttlesworth" by Civil Rights expert Andrew M. Manis at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. A reception and book signing will immediately follow his talk. The event is free and open to the public.

Manis is the author of the award-winning biography "The Fire You Can’t Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham’s Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth." Winner of the Lillian Smith Award and the James F. Sulzby Jr. Award, this first biography of Shuttlesworth details the life of the controversial preacher who led integration efforts in Birmingham. In 2001 Manis published the co-edited collection of essays, "Birmingham Revolutionaries: The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights," and recently a revised and expanded "Southern Civil Religions in Conflict: Civil Rights and the Culture Wars."

Manis, who holds a doctorate degree in American religious history from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, serves as an assistant professor of history at Macon State College. He is founder and former chair of the Interracial Fellowship of Concerned Christians.

For more information, call Brian E. Butler, UNCA assistant professor of philosophy and director of religious studies, at 828/251-9879.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Brian Butler, UNCA Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 828/251-6272
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526