This event will kick off “Know Whence You Came:” James Baldwin, Public Intellectual, which will be on view February 27–July 25, 2025 in the Michael T. Sillerman ’68 Rotunda, Cornell University Library's Rare and Manuscript Collections.

A Black man celebrated as a brilliant public intellectual, James Baldwin was direct and uncompromising about the truth as he experienced it. As essayist, novelist, playwright, poet, and civil rights activist, he used his pen to express the anger, pain, and rage of twentieth-century Black American life. He was a trailblazer for the Queer community, weaving elements of his sexual experiences throughout his writings and living openly as a gay man during times of extreme homophobia. His work continues to inspire each generation that encounters it.

Speakers:

Cornell University Emeritus Professors Anne Adams and Kenneth McClane; and Kofi Acree, Curator, Africana Collections, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.

Schedule:

1:30pm-2:00pm, Kofi Acree, the curator of the exhibit will be there to talk about the installation of the exhibit.
2:00pm-3:00pm, Kofi Acree, Curator, Africana Collections, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, will facilitate a conversation with Cornell University Emeritus Professors Anne Adams and Kenneth McClane. Professors Adams and McClane will in part talk about the impact that James Baldwin had in America and throughout the world. They will also share personal stories about Baldwin.