Dr. Timothy B. Tyson

In observance of Black History Month, UNC Asheville’s Distinguished Speaker Series will host a talk on “Blood Done Sign My Name: An Unflinching Examination of the Civil Rights Struggle in the South” by acclaimed author Timothy B. Tyson at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, in UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. The program will also feature comments by Tyson’s father, Rev. Vernon Tyson, and a performance by noted gospel singer Mary Williams. A book signing and reception will immediately follow Tyson’s talk. Tickets are $5 at the door or free to local students.

 

Tyson’s latest book, “Blood Done Sign My Name,” is a candid examination of the struggle for civil rights in the South. Tyson, a white historian, draws upon his childhood in Oxford, North Carolina during the summer of 1970. That year, his best friend’s father and brothers killed Henry Marrow, a black man, in public as he begged for his life. In the wake of the murder, the small community was torn apart and deeply divided. Tyson’s father, the pastor of an all-white United Methodist church, pressed his congregation to reach across the breach and come to terms with its racial history. In the end, however, the Tyson family were regarded as traitors and forced to move away.

 

Tyson is the author of two additional award-winning books: “Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power” and “Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy.” He serves as senior scholar of documentary studies at Duke University, with secondary appointments in the Duke’s Divinity School and History Department. Previously, Tyson served as the John Hope Franklin Fellow at the National Humanities Center and as professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a doctorate from Duke University.

 

Tyson’s talk is sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Office of Cultural & Special Events in conjunction with the Center for Diversity Education and UNC Asheville’s Center for Teaching and Learning, Diversity and Multicultural Programs, Education Department, History Department, Literature and Language Department, Multicultural Student Programs, Teaching Fellows Program, Key Center for Community Citizenship & Service Learning, and University Programs.

 

For more information about Tyson’s talk or the Cultural & Special Events season, call 828/251-6227.