Hidden Histories of Black Civil Rights
Date of Event
9-11-2025
Description
Through an empirically-rich historical investigation into the changing meaning of civil rights, Before the Movement seeks to change the way we think about Black history itself. Weaving together a variety of sources—from state and federal appellate courts to long-forgotten documents found in county courthouse basements, from family interviews to church records—the book tries to reveal how African Americans thought about, talked about, and used the law long before the marches of the 1960s. In a world that denied their constitutional rights, Black people built lives for themselves through common law “rights of everyday use.” Before the Movement recovers a rich vision of Black life―a vision allied with, yet distinct from, the freedom struggle.
Speaker Bio
Dylan C. Penningroth is professor of law and Morrison professor of history at the University of California–Berkeley, and an Affiliated Research Professor of the American Bar Foundation. He specializes in African American history and legal history. A MacArthur Fellow, his most recent book, Before the Movement, won eleven book prizes and was shortlisted for four more.
Lecture Series
Frank J. Battisti Memorial Lecture
Location
CWRU School of Law Moot Courtroom (A59)
Document Type
Video
Recommended Citation
Penningroth, Dylan C., "Hidden Histories of Black Civil Rights" (2025). Conferences and Symposia. 1123.
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/law_videos_general/1123