A dynamic speaker and respected activist, Barry Bradford has been praised on the floor of Congress, interviewed by every major broadcast network, and recognized with awards from major civil rights organizations for his work to reopen two of the most notorious "cold cases" of the civil rights era: the Mississippi Burning case and the Clyde Kennard case. Winner of OAH's Tachau Teacher of the Year award, he lives in northern Illinois, where he has taught for more than twenty years.

Lecture topics:

• Rewriting History: How one teacher, three high school students, and a dynamic newspaperman brought justice in the Mississippi Burning case, 41 years after the crime
• Carrying the Burden: The Legacy of Clyde Kennard (This African American veteran was framed for a crime and sent to prison because he wanted to go to college. Bradford and his students worked to clear Kennard's name almost a half century after his death.)
• Medgar and Myrlie: Is It Ever Too Late to Do the Right Thing? (The story of how Myrlie Evers struggled for 40 years to reopen the murder case of her husband, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, finally succeeding with the help of a talented newspaperman and a dogged prosecutor.)

Viewed Friday, November 20, 2009