Learn about the nation's only successful coup—the Wilmington Massacre of 1898 as recorded by Ohio-born African American Charles Chesnutt.

On the day after the 2024 elections, we’ll discuss a fictional account of a real event: the only successful coup d’etat in US history, the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. Although born in Cleveland, Ohio, African American author Charles Chesnutt had lived in North Carolina for sixteen years before returning to the North, so he was well prepared to write The Marrow of Tradition (1901), a book he hoped would do for his time what Uncle Tom’s Cabin had done a half-century before.

This event is free, though registration is required.

Suggested reading:
Charles W. Chesnutt, The Marrow of Tradition, Chapters 3, 28–29, and 35