Dr. Aram Goudsouzian, professor of history at the University of Memphis, is this year's lecturer at the 19th annual Sammy O. Cranford Memorial History Lecture April 7 at 7 p.m. in Jobe Hall Auditorium.Delta State University is gearing up for the 19th annual Sammy O. Cranford Memorial History Lecture on April 7 at 7 p.m. in Jobe Hall Auditorium.
This year’s lecturer is Dr. Aram Goudsouzian, professor of history and department chair at the University of Memphis. In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear, Goudsouzian’s lecture is entitled, “Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear.”
The Cranford Lecture is sponsored by the Delta State Division of Social Sciences and History and is supported by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council. This event honors the life of Dr. Sammy Orren Cranford, longtime history professor and archivist at Delta State. This event is free and open to the public.
“Dr. Goudsouzian is one of the leading scholars in post-World War II African American history and civil rights,” said Dr. Chuck Westmoreland, assistant professor of history at Delta State. “He is an extremely versatile scholar who has written biographies of Sidney Poitier and Bill Russell, in addition to his latest work on the 1966 James Meredith March Against Fear. The march, which is an often misunderstood and oversimplified moment in the modern civil rights struggle, gains new life and clarity in Dr. Goudsouzian’s award-winning book ‘Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear.’
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Goudsouzian give this year’s Cranford Lecture. It will be a great time for learning and for honoring one of Delta State’s most distinguished faculty members, Dr. Sammy O. Cranford, and the Cranford family.”
For more information on the Sammy O. Cranford Memorial History Lecture, contact Westmoreland at cwestmoreland@deltastate.edu.
Previous lecturers include: 1998, John Marzalek; 1999, John Ray Skates; 2000, James Cobb; 2001, Martha Swain; 2002, Lawrence Nelson; 2003, Nan Woodruff; 2004, David Sansing; 2005, Charles Reagan Wilson; 2006, James Hollandsworth; 2007, Elbert Hilliard; 2008, Larry Griffin; 2009, William LaForge; 2010, Chris Myers Asch; 2011, Charles Eagles; 2012, George Rable; 2013, Jeannie Whayne; 2014, Tim Huebner; and 2015, Alecia Long.
