Huntingdon College will welcome civil rights historian Dr. Timothy Tyson, senior research scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and adjunct professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina, as the lecturer for the College’s Ellison-Chapman Benson Symposium, Thursday, April 13, 6:00–7:00 p.m., in the College’s Delchamps Recital Hall, Smith Music Building. Dr. Tyson is the author of multiple award-winning books, including “Blood Done Sign My Name,” a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, and “The Blood of Emmett Till,” a National Book Award longlist book. A book-signing will follow the lecture with books available for purchase, cash or check only. The event is open to the public.

Dr. Tyson was executive producer of Mike Wiley’s 2008 play and writer-consultant for Jeb Stuart’s 2010 feature film adaptation of “Blood Done Sign My Name.” His 1999 book, “Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power,” won the James Rawley Prize and the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize from the Organization of American Historians (OAH) and was the basis for “Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power,” to which the OAH awarded the 2006 Eric Barnou Prize for best historical film. Dr. Tyson is co-editor with David Cecelski of “Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy,” winner of the 1998 Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Meyers Center for Human Rights in North America; and author of “Ghosts of 1898: Wilmington’s Race Riot and the Rise of White Supremacy,” winner of the 2007 Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. He serves on the executive board of the North Carolina NAACP, Repairers of the Breach, and the UNC Center for Civil Rights.

Parking for the lecture will be available in the Smith Parking Lot, accessible from East Fairview Avenue adjacent to Neal Posey Baseball Field.