The 2025 Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture will take place on Thursday, March 20 at 7 p.m. At the Madame Walker Theater. This year's lecturer is Timothy Egan, author of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.
Egan is an acclaimed writer and veteran chronicler of the American experience, whose interests range wide across history and landscape, and into the spiritual realm. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, a popular columnist, and a National Book Award-winning author of eleven books. Learn more about Timothy Egan (.pdf).
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, tells the story of a murderous con man, the Klan’s rise to power in Indiana in the 1920s, and the woman who led to their downfall. Read an excerpt of A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2024 Marian McFadden Memorial Lecture. Seated together on stage, Ashley C. Ford and Misty Copeland shared an evening of companionable conversation about Misty's experiences, her mentors, and the life-changing power of opportunities to explore the arts.
You can read more in Misty's most recent book, The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts From My Mentor, Raven Wilkins (2022).
print book | e-book | downloadable audiobook
"Misty Copeland made history as the first African-American principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre. Her talent, passion, and perseverance enabled her to make strides no one had accomplished before. But as she will tell you, achievement never happens in a void. Behind her, supporting her rise was her mentor, Raven Wilkinson, who had been virtually alone in her quest to breach the all-white ballet world when she fought to be taken seriously as a Black ballerina in the 1950s and 60s. A trailblazer in the world of ballet decades before Misty's time, Raven faced overt and casual racism, hostile crowds, and death threats for having the audacity to dance ballet. The Wind at My Back tells the story of two unapologetically Black ballerinas, their friendship, and how they changed each other--and the dance world--forever."
At the end of the lecture, young ballet students had the opportunity to ask Misty a question. One of them was, if you could tell young dancers one thing, what would it be?
Misty Copeland is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, co-written with award-winning journalist and author Charisse Jones. She has also published several children’s books including the award-winning Firebird, illustrated by Christopher Myers, and Bunheads, a biographical glimpse of young Misty as she makes friends and auditions for a role in Coppélia.
Misty is a celebrated artist, making history as the first black woman to perform the lead role of Odette/Odile in American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake. In June 2015, Misty was promoted to principal dancer, making her the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.
This list contains beautiful children's fiction and nonfiction stories about Black ballet dancers!
Sometimes the things that make us different, can be our greatest gifts. This is a beautiful story about a young girl whose dream is to become a ballerina, written by Debbie Allen and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
Janet Collins broke color barriers in the 1950s when she became the first African American prima ballerina and one of the few classically trained Black dancers in American classical ballet.
This is a great story about the journey of Raven Wilkinson, and how she became a pioneer in the world of ballet. There is also a great forward by Misty Copeland.
Made possible by Friends of the Library through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.