Contact: Public Relations
(863) 680-4118

Author Dorothy Redford visits, lectures at
Florida Southern College
The author will appear in the television special
"Roots-Celebrating 25 Years" airing on NBC Jan. 18

LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2002) - Dorothy Spruill Redford, author of "Somerset Homecoming, Recovering a Lost Heritage," will visit the Florida Southern campus Feb. 6-8. Redford will lecture on "Antebellum Women: Barriers and Bonds to Relationships" on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Honeyman Pavilion and will conduct a book signing after her talk. The Office of Multicultural Affairs is sponsoring her visit.

"We are so fortunate to have Ms. Redford as part of Black History Month. As a woman who had a dream and fulfilled it, she is an inspiration to us all. With her work at Somerset Plantation, she lives the conviction that black and white history are inextricably linked," said English professor Dr. Claudia Slate, who arranged Redford's visit to FSC.

In addition to the lecture and book signing, Redford will speak in several classes including Race, Culture, and Human Relations and Survey of African American Literature. She will also attend the Soul Food Dinner on Feb. 6.

Redford's book tells the story of her 10-year search for the history of her ancestors, slaves brought from West Africa to work on the Somerset Place plantation in Creswell, N.C. Her story and the plantation will be prominently featured in the NBC special, "Roots-Celebrating 25 years" airing Friday night from 8 to 9 p.m. The program, hosted by LaVar Burton, includes footage of the homecoming event Redford organized that brought together over 2000 descendants of the plantation's slaves and owners. The plantation is now a state historic site, with Redford serving as its executive director.

For further information, please contact Claudia Slate at (863) 680-4342.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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