Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor Victor Luckerson will read from his sweeping and intimate portrait of racial violence, empowerment, and social action (Kirkus),  Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street.  He will be joined in conversation by UIowa Assistant Professor Ashley Howard. This event is co-sponsored by the University of Iowa African American Studies program, History department, and School of Journalism/Mass Communication. Please join us!

“Built from the Fire is a deeply researched chronicle of Tulsa’s extraordinary African American community through decades of triumph and tragedy, heartbreak and determination. In telling the story of the life and times of the remarkable Goodwin clan, Victor Luckerson has provided us with a true American family saga.”—Scott Ellsworth

“A vital book . . . [Victor Luckerson] brings his considerable journalistic sensibilities to this sweeping and intimate portrait of racial violence, empowerment, and social action.”—Kirkus Reviews

Victor Luckerson is a National Magazine Award-Nominated journalist and author based in Tulsa.  He is a former staff writer at The Ringer and business reporter for Time magazine. His writing and research, which focuses on bringing neglected black history to light, has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, and Smithsonian. He was nominated for a National Magazine Award for his reporting in Time on the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. He also manages an email newsletter about underexplored aspects of black history called Run It Back.

Ashley Howard is Assistant Professor in the UI Department of History. Dr. Howard’s work has appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, BBC World News Hour, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, Washington Post and NPR. Her “Then the Burnings Began” article is the winner of the 2018 James L. Sellers Memorial Prize.