CapRadio Reads: Live Author Interview with Gretchen Sorin

Join CapRadio Reads host Donna Apidone and author and historian Gretchen Sorin to discuss Sorin’s book Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights— the inspiration behind Ric Burns’ new documentary airing October 13 on PBS.

CapRadio Reads has gone virtual. In these times, they hope to connect with you no matter from where you tune in. Their virtual author interviews are free and open to the public. You may also enjoy their CapRadio Reads podcast.

About the Book:
Sorin’s deeply researched book makes clear the magnitude of injustices and dangers faced by African-Americans while traveling. Pre-emancipation proclamation masters kept slaves confined, and free Black people were regularly stopped, questioned and even kidnapped.

These restrictions and thought processes have carried on since, in varying ways. However, the invention of the car brought in a new era. The symbol of independence to many would allow Black people to hit the open road on a quest for freedom.

About the Author:
Gretchen Sorin learned to love museums while exploring the Newark Museum’s galleries with her brother as children. She has since worked as a museum educator, a director and a consultant to more than 200 museums — including the Smithsonian, the Jewish Museum and the New York State Historical Association. Today she is a distinguished professor and director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program of the State University of New York.