Ben Montgomery, Pulitzer Prize finalist & author of "Grandma Gatewood's Walk," will launch his new book, "A Shot in the Moonlight" via Zoom. Register for Zoom link to hear his talk & be part of Q&A.
A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South is the sensational true story of George Dinning, a freed slave. In 1899 Dinning joined forces with a Confederate war hero in search of justice in the Jim Crow south.
For this event Montgomery will be joined by Anthony Denning Sr., the great-grandson of George Dinning.
After moonrise on the cold night of January 21, 1897, a mob of 25 white men gathered in a patch of woods near Big Road in southwestern Simpson County, Kentucky. Half carried rifles and shotguns, and a few tucked pistols in their pants. Their target was George Dinning, a freed slave who'd farmed peacefully in the area for 14 years. He was wrongfully accused of stealing livestock from a neighboring farm. When the mob began firing through the doors and windows of Dinning's home, he fired back in self-defense, shooting and killing the son of a wealthy Kentucky family.
So began one of the strangest legal episodes in American history — Dinning become the first Black man in America to win damages after a wrongful murder conviction.
Drawing on a wealth of never-before-published material, Ben Montgomery resurrects this dramatic but largely forgotten story. There is an unusual convergence of characters including a Confederate war hero-turned-lawyer Bennett H. Young, Kentucky governor William O'Connell Bradley, and George Dinning himself. This is an unlikely story of justice that unfolded in a time and place where justice was all too rare.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Virtual | Books/Authors/Writing |
Our mission is sparking curiosity and connecting our community through literacy and learning. The library features the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, the Millennium Café, Chandler Booktique (bookstore and gift shop), free meeting rooms, computer training and free Wi-Fi access. The library has a collection of more than 414,000 books and serves more than 81,000 registered borrowers. Bookmobiles make 23 stops Monday-Saturday across Shawnee County. The website tscpl.org serves customers’ needs 24/7. The library offers state-of-the art technology, youth programs that encourage learning and reading, adult learning programs, online learning tools, events, and reference and research tools.