The 2025 Stone Lecture in Judaism at Augustana College, “Navigating History: Civil Rights and the Jews of Selma, Alabama,” will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3.
Dr. Amy Milligan, the Batten Endowed Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies, will present the lecture in the Olin Auditorium on the Rock Island campus. It is free and open to the public. Dr. Milligan is the director of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominion University.
Selma, Alabama, is an internationally known icon because of the Civil Rights Movement. The confrontation that occurred was between Black and white citizens. Although segregated, both communities were Christian; but where did the city’s substantial Jewish community stand?
Dr. Milligan’s work explores the history of Jewish life in Selma, problematizing the assumption that Jewish Selmians experienced the marches and Bloody Sunday in the same way as other citizens.
Through ethnography and oral history, she captures the narratives retold by the community, explores a complex and nuanced history, and probes the question of how memory and legacy can be molded and shaped through truth telling for communities with troublesome histories.
For more information, visit www.augustana.edu/judaism-center or contact Jewish Center co-chairs Dr. David Schwartz at [email protected] or Dr. M. Wolff at [email protected].
