Join Carolina Public Humanities, Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition, & Northern Orange NAACP at 6PM onFriday, Nov. 5th for a discussion of “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America.” Featuring the incredible panelists Dr. Deborah Stroman (UNC-CH), Dr. Freddie Parker (NCCU Emeritus) & Judge Hathaway Pendergrass, this discussion will shed new light on the remarkable civil rights crusader and the realities of the racial terror he faced down during the case of the “Groveland Boys.” Whether you read the book before or after, you don’t want to miss this important conversation with some of our areas best panelists! This conversation is moderated by James Williams.
This is a hybrid event with limited in-person seating. For information about attending in-person, call (919-942-7373) or email (info@flyleafbooks.com) Flyleaf Books .
To register for the livestream via Zoom, click here.
Flyleaf is happy to offer a 20% discount on The Devil in the Grove for members of the OCCRC & The Northern Orange NAACP. Just mention in the order comments online or in person that you’re a member of one of these organizations, and we will adjust the charge before processing your order. You can also come by the store and pick up your copy today; we’re open for browsing every day.
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the twentieth century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court when he became embroiled in an explosive and deadly case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and cost him his life.
In 1949, Florida’s orange industry was booming, and citrus barons got rich on the backs of cheap Jim Crow labor. To maintain order and profits, they turned to Willis V. McCall, a violent sheriff who ruled Lake County with murderous resolve. When a white seventeen-year-old Groveland girl cried rape, McCall was fast on the trail of four young blacks who dared to envision a future for themselves beyond the citrus groves. By day’s end, the Ku Klux Klan had rolled into town, burning the homes of blacks to the ground and chasing hundreds into the swamps, hell-bent on lynching the young men who came to be known as “the Groveland Boys.” And so began the chain of events that would bring Thurgood Marshall, the man known as “Mr. Civil Rights,” into the deadly fray. Drawing on a wealth of never-before-published material, including the FBI’s unredacted Groveland case files, as well as unprecedented access to the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund files, King shines new light on this remarkable civil rights crusader.
