the Life and Work of Harriet Jacobs

A conference that recasts Jacobs' role as a major contributor to American Literature and Black Activism

October 6 & 7, 2006

Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts

Pace University, New York, NY

www.pace.edu/dyson/HarrietJacobsConf

Drawing eminent historians and literary scholars from across the country, "The Legacies of Slavery and Sisterhood: The Life and Work of Harriet Jacobs" will include six panel discussions and a roundtable on the current implications of her writing and life. Actress Ruby Dee will give a reading from Jacobs' harrowing account of her escape from slavery in 1842 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, first published pseudonymously in 1861.

Jacobs lived as a slave, a fugitive targeted for kidnapping, a writer, a reformer, a lecturer and an activist. She worked closely with abolitionists and early feminists, provided emergency relief, founded a free school for blacks in Alexandria, Virginia, and raised funds for the black community of Savannah.

The symposium is inspired by the extraordinary work of Pace Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, Jean Fagan Yellin. Professor Yellin's work solved the mystery of who actually wrote the book that for more than 125 years was thought to have been written by a white author.

To attend this remarkable conference, held at Pace University's downtown New York City campus, registration is required. Please visit the Web site www.pace.edu/dyson/HarrietJacobsConf for more information.