Judith Giesberg
The St. Louis County Library’s Black History Celebration Presents Historian Judith Giesberg
Author of “Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families”
In Conversation with Cicely Hunter, Missouri Historical Society - Public Historian - African American Initiatives
Presented in partnership with the Emerson History & Genealogy Center, the Missouri Historical Society and the St. Louis African American History and Genealogy Society
Of all the many horrors of slavery, the cruelest was the separation of families in slave auctions. As soon as slavery ended, family members began to search for one another through “information wanted” advertisements and letters to newspaper editors. Drawing from an archive of nearly five thousand documents, historian Judith Giesberg shares the story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family. Thoughtful, heart-wrenching, and illuminating, “Last Seen” finally gives this lesser-known aspect of slavery the attention it deserves.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
Books provided by Left Bank Books.

Feb
18