Nonfiction Book Discussion Group (online)

February 2023 Book: Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana, Brian K. Mitchell, Barrington S. Edwards, and Nick Weldon

This program will be held virtually on Zoom. Please register below if you would like to attend - and be sure to include your email address so you receive the Zoom link. (Look for a confirmation email from noreply@mrspl.org.) 

View reading list through March 2023...

About the Book

Monumental tells, for the first time, the incredible story of Oscar James Dunn, a New Orleanian born into slavery who became America’s first Black lieutenant governor and acting governor. A champion of universal suffrage, civil rights, and integrated public schools, Dunn fought for radical change during the early years of Reconstruction in Louisiana, a post–Civil War era rife with corruption, subterfuge, and violence. But Dunn’s accomplishments, and those of many other Black politicians who emerged during Reconstruction, soon faded from memory. A graphic history informed by newly discovered primary sources, Monumental resurrects, in vivid detail, Louisiana and New Orleans after the Civil War—and presents an iconic American life that never should have been forgotten.