Special Black History Month “Authors on Deck” Presentation Two Captains from Carolina: Moses Grandy, John Newland Maffitt and the Coming of the Civil War

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FREE

As part of the United States Navy Memorial’s “Authors on Deck” book lecture series in honor of Black History Month, author Bland Simpson will present his literary work, Two Captains from Carolina: Moses Grandy, John Newland Maffitt, and the Coming of the Civil War (University of North Carolina Press; September 2012).  Two Captains from Carolina twines together the lives of two accomplished nineteenth-century mariners from North Carolina--one African American and one Irish American.

Though Moses Grandy and John Newland Maffitt Jr. never met, their stories bring to vivid life the saga of race and maritime culture in the antebellum and Civil War-era South.  Both men established names for themselves as they navigated very different routes through the turbulent waters of antebellum America.  With his lyrical prose and inimitable voice, Simpson offers readers a grand tale of the striving human spirit and the great divide that nearly sundered the nation.

Following the presentation, Simpson will be available for a Q&A session and book signing.