Faculty Research Fellows Talk with Estelle Freedman

Estelle Freedman: "Feminist Biography in Book and Film: Reflections on Maternal Justice and Singing for Justice"

While co-directing the recent documentary film Singing for Justice, about folk singer and political activist Faith Petric (1915-2013), Professor Freedman reflected on the distinctions between traditional academic writing and filmmaking. After completing the film, she began to recognize parallels between Singing for Justice and her earlier book Maternal Justice, about the life of prison reformer Miriam Van Waters (1887-1974). In this talk Professor Freedman compares working within two formats and seeking to do justice to two complex and sometimes elusive life histories. She hopes to illuminate women’s varied contributions to social change in modern America and the nature of feminist biography.

There will be a Stanford screening of Singing for Justice on Wednesday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. in CERAS (Center for Education Research at Stanford) rm 101.

Estelle Freedman is Robinson Professor in U.S. History (Emerit).

Clayman Faculty Affiliates are welcome to attend the lunch seminars.  All Stanford academics are eligible to become Clayman Institute Faculty Affiliates. Please RSVP to Lea Gottlieb (lgottlie [at] stanford.edu (lgottlie[at]stanford[dot]edu)) if you wish to attend.