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Battle of Franklin Trust to Host First Lecture of the Year

Battle of Franklin Trust to Host First Lecture of the Year

“Freedom Summer and the Struggle for First-Class Citizenship” to occur on Thursday, April 19

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Battle of Franklin Trust will host its first lecture of the year on Thursday, April 19 featuring speaker Pat Thomas. Titled “Freedom Summer and the Struggle for First Class Citizenship,” the lecture will address voting rights for disenfranchised African-Americans and the Civil Rights Movement.

“The lecture series is a way to educate the community about topics that pertain to our history as a country,” said Eric A. Jacobson, CEO of The Battle of Franklin Trust. “This particular lecture will highlight the Civil Rights Movement and the significance of the Freedom Summer.”

During the summer of 1964, Thomas worked to help secure voting rights for disenfranchised African-Americans in the State of Mississippi. This project is now known as Freedom Summer, or the Mississippi Summer Project, which helped push Congress towards the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Thomas currently practices law in Williamson and Davidson Counties, graduating from Vanderbilt Law School in 1987. He earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and later moved back to the South. He has lived in Middle Tennessee for 47 years.

“Freedom Summer and the Struggle for First-Class Citizenship” will take place at The Fleming Center at Carnton, located at 1345 Eastern Flank Circle. The event begins at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Reservations are required due to limited seating. Contact jayde@boft.org or (615) 794-0903. The lecture will last approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A. For more information about this lecture series, visit www.boft.org.

About The Battle of Franklin Trust

The Battle of Franklin Trust is a 501(c)3 management corporation acting on behalf of Franklin’s battlefield sites to contribute to visitors’ understanding of the Nov. 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin. The Trust is organized for the charitable and educational purposes of preserving, restoring, maintaining and interpreting the properties, artifacts and documents related to the battle to preserve this important part of the nation’s history.