13 February 2007
Expert To Discuss Thurgood Marshall's Link to Kenya's Democracy
Famous lawyer, jurist and civil rights activist carried ideals to Africa
The story of Thurgood Marshall's achievements as one of the 20th century's greatest architects of American race relations -- as the man who won the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education -- is well-known. Marshall's role in strengthening African democracy remains less familiar but is equally groundbreaking.
On February 16 at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), join legal historian and Marshall biographer Mary Dudziak for a webchat on Marshall's 1960 journey to Kenya and his role in negotiations over a new constitution for what was then a British colony.
Mary L. Dudziak is a legal historian whose research on international approaches to legal history has led her to write extensively about the impact of foreign affairs on civil rights policy during the Cold War and other topics in 20th-century American legal history. She is a contributing author to the U.S. Department of State's new online publication Justice for All: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall.
Dudziak is also a professor at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Law; she presently is on leave from her teaching duties, supported by a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. Dudziak's current projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press: Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey (forthcoming 2008) and How War Made America: A 20th Century History.
Dudziak received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her law degree, master's degrees and doctorate (in American studies) from Yale University.
If you would like to participate in this webchat, please sign up on the USINFO Webchat registration page. Please tell us your preferred screen name; use of full names is not required.
If you have participated in one of our previous webchats, use the same user name and password. You may submit questions in advance to usinfowebchat@state.gov or directly during the webchat.
We accept questions and comments in advance of, and at any time during, the program. You may also e-mail questions without registering.
The transcript of this webchat will be available on USINFO's Webchat Station, where information about upcoming webchats is also available.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
