BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:SoDel X-WR-CALNAME:History Book Festival Book Discussion with Laura Arnold Leibma n- Virtual BEGIN:VEVENT UID:77662021-08-12 DTSTART:20210812T210000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20210812T040000Z SUMMARY:History Book Festival Book Discussion with Laura Arnold Leibman- Vi rtual CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:A woman’s surprising discoveries as she researched her family ’s\nhistory are the subject of a History Book Festival presentation on\n August 12.\n\n Author and educator Laura Arnold Leib man will\ndiscuss her book_\, Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journ ey of a\nMultiracial Jewish Family_ (Oxford University Press\, 2021) duri ng a\nvirtual program beginning at 5 PM EDT.\n\nA question-and-answer sess ion will follow the presentation\, which is\nco-sponsored by the Seaside J ewish Community in Rehoboth Beach.\nPresenting sponsors of the 2021 Histor y Book Festival are Delaware\nHumanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group o f Berkshire Hathaway\nHomeServices Gallo Realty.\n\nThe August 12 program is free\, but pre-registration is required. To\nreserve a spot\, visit ww w.historybookfestival.org\n[http://www.historybookfestival.org/].\n\n _Once We Were Slaves_ recounts the exhaustive\neffort s of Blanche Moses\, who lived from 1859 to 1946\, to trace the\nhistory o f her prominent New York City Jewish family. Although Moses\nfirmly believ ed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees\, she\nlearned that her grandmother and great-uncle\, Sarah and Isaac Brandon\,\nwere the children of a multiracial woman owned by another Jewish\nfamily in Barbados.\n\n Using family heirlooms and other artifacts\,\nMoses m ethodically documented how her ancestors were able to transform\nthemselve s to become free\, wealthy\, and socially prominent.\n\n While their affluence was unusual\, the\nBrandons’ story mirrors th at of the largely forgotten population of\nmixed African and Jewish ancest ry that constituted as much as 10% of\nthe Jewish communities in which the y lived. It also sheds new light on\nracial characterizations in the first half of the 19th Century.\n\n _Kirkus Reviews_ p raised _Once We Were\nSlaves _as “a richly contextual history of multi racial Jews and\ntheir travails and triumphs in the New World\,” with _ Publishers\nWeekly _observing that the book “highlights the fluidity of early\nAmerica’s racial boundaries and the multiracial threads of Jewis h\nhistory.”\n\nLaura Arnold Leibman is the author of _The Art of Jewis h Family: A\nHistory of Women in Early New York in Five Objects_\, winner of three\nNational Jewish Book Awards\; and _Messianism\, Secrecy and Mys ticism:\nA New Interpretation of Early American Jewish Life_\, recognized with a\nNational Jewish Book Award and a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the\nAssociation for Jewish Studies.\n\nLeibman is a professor of English and humanities at Reed College in\nPortland\, OR. She earned her doctorate from the University of\nCalifornia\, Los Angeles.\n\nCopies of _Once We Were Slaves_ are available at Browseabout Books\nin Rehoboth Beach\, the official bookseller of the History Book\nFestival. The book also may be pu rchased at biblion in Lewes. Books\npurchased at either shop come with a s igned archival bookplate.\n X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

A woman&rsquo\;s surprising discover ies as she researched her family&rsquo\;s history are the subject of a His tory Book Festival presentation on August 12.

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\; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; Author a nd educator Laura Arnold Leibman will discuss her book\, Once We Were S laves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family \; (Oxford University Press\, 2021) during a virtual program beginning at 5 P M EDT.

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A question-and-answer session will follow the pre sentation\, which is co-sponsored by the Seaside Jewish Community in Rehob oth Beach. Presenting sponsors of the 2021 History Book Festival are Delaw are Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group of Berkshire Hathaway HomeS ervices Gallo Realty.

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The August 12 program is free\, bu t pre-registration is required. To reserve a spot\, visit \;www.historybookfestival.org.

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\; \; \; \; \; \; \;&nb sp\; \; \; \; \;Once We Were Slaves \;recounts the exhaustive efforts of Blanche Moses\, who lived from 1859 to 1946\, to trace the history of her prominent New York City Jewish family. Although Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees\, she learned that her grandmother and great-uncle\, Sarah and Isaac Brandon\, were the children of a multiracial woman owned by another Jewish family in Barbados.

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\; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; Using family heirlooms and other artifacts\ , Moses methodically documented how her ancestors were able to transform t hemselves to become free\, wealthy\, and socially prominent.

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\; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \;& nbsp\; While their affluence was unusual\, the Brandons&rsquo\; story mirr ors that of the largely forgotten population of mixed African and Jewish a ncestry that constituted as much as 10% of the Jewish communities in which they lived. It also sheds new light on racial characterizations in the fi rst half of the 19^th \;Century.

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\;&nbs p\; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \;Kirkus Reviews \;praised \;Once We Were Slaves \; as &ldquo\;a richly contextual history of multiracial Jews and their trava ils and triumphs in the New World\,&rdquo\; with \;Publishers Weekl y \;observing that the book &ldquo\;highlights the fluidity of ear ly America&rsquo\;s racial boundaries and the multiracial threads of Jewis h history.&rdquo\;

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Laura Arnold Leibman is the author of \;The Art of Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York i n Five Objects\, winner of three National Jewish Book Awards\; and&nbs p\;Messianism\, Secrecy and Mysticism: A New Interpretation of Early Am erican Jewish Life\, recognized with a National Jewish Book Award and a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association for Jewish Studies.~~~~

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Leibman is a professor of English and humanities at Reed Co llege in Portland\, OR. She earned her doctorate from the University of Ca lifornia\, Los Angeles.
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Copies of \;Once We Were Slaves \;are available at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach\, th e official bookseller of the History Book Festival. The book also may be p urchased at biblion in Lewes. Books purchased at either shop come with a s igned archival bookplate.
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