Making Happiness in Early African America

Emory to Host 'Pursuit of Happiness' Lecture Series in September

Revenge and forgiveness, America's pursuit of happiness, and making happiness in slave-era America are the topics of the Pursuit of Happiness Lectures Series 2010, hosted by Emory University's Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) in September.

The lectures are free and open to the public. They begin at 7 p.m. at Emory Law's Tull Auditorium, 1301 Clifton Rd., Atlanta.

Frances Smith Foster, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Women's Studies at Emory and CSLR senior fellow, will explore the issue of domestic happiness and loving bliss many Afro-Protestant families of the Antebellum era experienced despite the many obstacles they faced.

Foster has written about this happiness and the resilience of African-American families in "'Til Death or Distance Do Us Part: Love and Marriage in Early African America" (Oxford University Press, 2009) and "Love and Marriage in Early African America" (Northeastern University Press, 2007). Both volumes were products of the CSLR's Sex, Marriage and Family Project. Contact: April L. Bogle: 404.712.8713 Elaine Justice: 404.727.0643