Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), is scheduled to speak at the Stranahan Theater Great Hall, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16 at the 2008 Spring Authors! Authors! series presented by The Blade and arranged by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.
Edelman, author of eight books including her successful work, “The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours,” will speak for about one hour before hosting a short question-and-answer session. Edelman is a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and the CDF has become one of the nation’s leading voices for children and families.
Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, started her career in the mid-1960s when, as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1968, she moved to Washington, D.C., as counsel for the Poor People’s Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began organizing before his death. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public interest law firm and the parent body of the Children’s Defense Fund. For two years she served as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University and in 1973 she founded the CDF.
Edelman serves on numerous boards and has received many honorary degrees. Her awards include the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” award. She is married to Peter Edelman, a professor at Georgetown Law School. The couple has three grown sons, two granddaughters, and two grandsons.
Following her presentation and question-and-answer session, Edelman will be available for book signings.
Some of Edelman’s books, provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers, are scheduled to be available for purchase at the Authors! Authors! presentation.
Authors! Authors! tickets are $10 per person. Tickets are available for purchase at all Toledo-Lucas County Public Library locations and are limited in quantity. Student discounts are available. For other scheduled Authors! Authors! speakers log on to toledolilbrary.org.
- Toledo-Lucas County Public Library | Toledo, OH
rhonda.sewell@toledolibrary.org | www.toledolibrary.org | 419.259.5381