LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Historian, documentary filmmaker and University of Louisville alumnus Chad Montrie will talk about how past racism affects the present in a free, public lecture March 26.
His lecture, “Hidden in Plain View,” will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, with a reception afterward. The event is part of the Louis Gottschalk lecture series, which the history department hosts to promote the study of history and to honor Gottschalk, a former UofL professor and American Historical Association president.
Montrie will discuss how white residents excluded black people from thousands of U.S. suburbs and towns during the 20th century and how this exclusion still contributes to persistent social problems. The historian will explain how racism’s history, though often overlooked, marks local geography, shapes social institutions and conditions relationships.
Montrie teaches history at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he has worked since 2002. The Louisville native earned his bachelor’s degree in history from University of Louisville and master’s degree and doctorate from The Ohio State University.
He is author of three books, “A People’s History of Environmentalism in the United States,” “Making a Living: Work and Environment in the United States” and “To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia.” Montrie also has been director, cinematographer and editor of several documentary films.
For more information, contact the UofL history department at 502-852-6817 or history@louisville.edu.