To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death
[log in to unmask]"> Dr.
Suzanne E. Smith, Professor of History
and Art History at George Mason
University will discuss her latest
book, "To
Serve the Living: Funeral Directors
and the African American Way of
Death." The book discusses the
role African American funeral
directors have had in African American
society and culture.
During the Jim Crow era, black funeral
directors relied on racial segregation
to secure their foothold in America’s
capitalist marketplace. With the
dawning of the Civil Rights Movement,
these entrepreneurs were drawn into
the movement to integrate American
society, but were uncertain how racial
integration would affect their
business success.
Lecture will be held in the Black
Studies Division, Room 311. For more
information, call 202-727-1261.