On the night of January 21, 1897, a white mob attacked the home of George Dinning, a formerly enslaved farmer in Simpson County, Kentucky. As the crowd fired their guns into his house, Dinning shot back in self-defense, killing a young man. “So began one of the strangest legal episodes in American history – one that ended with Dinning becoming the first Black man in America to win damages after a wrongful murder conviction.”
Join a virtual conversation with journalist Ben Montgomery, who will share this dramatic and unlikely story of justice, “in a time and place where justice was all too rare.” An award-winning journalist, Ben Montgomery spent the majority of his newspaper career as an enterprise reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. He is the founder of the narrative journalism website Gangrey.com and helped launch the Auburn Chautauqua, a Southern writers collective. Learn more about his work at www.benmontgomerywrites.com.
The conversation takes place on Zoom: history.ky.gov/event/first-friday-speaker-series-a-shot-in-the-moonlight-how-a-freed-slave-and-a-confederate-soldier-fought-for-justice-in-the-jim-crow-south/
The registration deadline is 10 am on the day of the event. Questions? Contact us at KHSeducation@ky.gov or call 502-782-8070.
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