Florida Conversations Welcomes Freedom Riders Author Ray Arsenault

The History Center welcomes author and USF St. Petersburg professor Raymond Arsenault to the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Wed., Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Arsenault will discuss his 2006 book Freedom Riders and share stories about his time in the national limelight, including last year’s release of the PBS documentary based on his book and his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Arsenault’s book chronicles events that took place during spring and summer of 1961, when 450 Freedom Riders set out to change the world by simply boarding a bus. For six months, several racially-integrated groups of Freedom Riders traveled from Washington DC through the Deep South, defying Jim Crow laws, putting their lives on the line for racial justice, and setting the stage for the civil rights movement.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at the Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay History Center at (813) 228-0097 or visit our website.