Captains of Charity, Teaching Race History

Captains of Charity Guest: Mary Eyring, PhD, Assistant Professor of English, BYU, author of “Captains of Charity: The Writings and Wages of Post-Revolutionary Atlantic Benevolence” Today it’s not at all unusual for people to make a career of charity work – ten-percent of all private sector jobs in America are with nonprofits. But there was a time, only a few centuries ago, when the notion that you could make a living as a do-gooder was path-breaking. The people who pioneered this were often women and minorities cut off from more traditional job options. And often they were able to marry charity work with money making during times of community distress – a disease outbreak, for example, or an economic downturn.  Writing Black History for Kids Guest: Denise Lewis Patrick, author of “The Adventures of Midnight Son,” “Finding Someplace” and the American Girl “Cecile” and “Melody” books Helping kids understand the history of racism in America is a heavy topic that can be difficult for writers to tackle effectively. Doing it for young readers, though? That’s a particular challenge. How to make it understandable, but not sanitized?  Civil Rights Through the Eyes of a 6-year-old Guest: Ruby Bridges, activist; author of "Through My Eyes" November 14, 1960 was Ruby Bridges’ first day of first grade as one of the first African American children to integrate an all-white school in the South. When Norman Rockwell memorialized that day in his famous painting “The Problem We All Live With,” Bridges became a civil rights icon at age six. In the painting, she’s flanked by four federal marshals. Her dress and sneakers and the little bow in her braided hair are impossibly white. She looks calm and resolute, even though the wall she’s walking by is marred with a racial slur and the splatter of tomatoes. Today she travels the country telling her story to children.