Upcoming Tour Dates with Kate Masur, author of “Freedom Was in Sight!”

Leading historian and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Kate Masur will be touring (in-person, unless noted as virtual) to discuss Freedom Was in Sight! A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C., Region. Gorgeously illustrated by award-winning artist Liz Clarke, this graphic history draws on the words and experiences of people who lived during Reconstruction to powerfully show how the Civil War and emancipation transformed the U.S., with impacts rippling outward for decades. Masur and Clarke reveal the hopes and betrayals of a critical period in American history, correct misconceptions about the Reconstruction era, and highlight the often-overlooked experiences of Black Americans who mobilized for freedom and equality and sounded the alarm against agents of white supremacy. Freedom Was In Sight! was commissioned through a partnership between the National Park Service and the Organization of American Historians, and will be published on October 1 under UNC Press’s trade imprint, Ferris and Ferris Books.

“Freedom Was in Sight is a revelation. Kate Masur’s exceptional scholarship combined with Liz Clarke’s virtuosic illustrations bring the history of Reconstruction to life with color, texture, and humanity. Never has Reconstruction been rendered in such a dynamic way. No longer is the history an abstraction. Here it leaps from the page. It breathes. It speaks. It haunts. It quakes. I can’t stop thinking about this book.”

—Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed 

UPCOMING 2024 EVENTS

Sept. 17 (Virtual): Freedom Corridor, in conversation with Brian K. Mitchell, 7:00 Central/8 Eastern (virtual)
Oct. 1 (Evanston, IL) : Bookends and Beginnings, in conversation with Executive Director of Shorefront Legacy Center Laurice Bell, 6:00pm
Oct. 3 (Virtual): Malaprop’s Bookstore, in-conversation with award-winning historian Kidada Williams, 6:00pm Eastern Postponed due to Hurricane Helene, new date TBD
Oct. 7 (Washington, DC) : Politics & Prose (Union Market location), in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Robert Samuels, 7:00pm
Oct. 8 (Shepherdstown, WV): Four Seasons Bookstore in partnership with Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education and the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War, 7:00pm
Oct. 9 (Washington, DC): Hill Center DC, in conversation with Director of Riversdale House Museum Maya Davis, 7:00pm, (Registration and $10 ticketed event required)
Oct. 12 (Gettysburg, PA): Gettysburg National Military Park, 11:00 am
Oct. 16 (Virtual): Organization of American Historians, webinar, 4:30pm Eastern
Nov. 12 (Washington, DC): National Museum of African American History and Culture, 6:00pm
Nov. 13 (Baltimore, MD): Snug Books, 6:30pm

…More events to be added for 2025.

“Engaging reading for all ages…Recalling this earlier time of profound social division in America’s history, Masur and Clarke’s collaboration celebrates the men and women who battled the forces of white supremacy to gain their rightful place as citizen.”

—Kirkus Review 

FREEDOM WAS IN SIGHT! 
A GRAPHIC HISTORY OF RECONSTRUCTION IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C., REGION
Kate Masur & Liz Clarke 
University of North Carolina Press/A Ferris and Ferris Book
On sale October 1, 2024 | $24.00 trade paperback 

“This vivid graphic history is a remarkable achievement that belongs in classrooms, in personal and public libraries, and on coffee tables. Following a captivating ensemble of freedom fighters, it takes readers on a journey into cities and rural communities, military camps, homes, schools, lodges, churches, city council chambers, and the halls of Congress where Black freedom was constructed during emancipation and Reconstruction. Kate Masur’s eloquent and masterful storytelling is brought to life with Liz Clarke’s astonishing and moving illustrations. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.”

—Kidada E. Williams, author of I Saw Death Coming 

Kate Masur is Board of Visitors Professor of History at Northwestern University and author, most recently, of Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction, which was a Finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in History.  

Liz Clarke lives in Cape Town, South Africa, where she works as an illustrator. Her work is featured in many graphic histories, including Witness to the Age of Revolution (with Charles F. Walker) and Abina and the Important Men (with Trevor R. Getz).