By David J. Kent
Washington, D.C.
Friday, January 14, 2022
The Lincoln Group of DC is privileged to have author and historian Dorris Keeven-Franke as our next speaker on Tuesday, January 18th, beginning at 6 pm ET. Her topic is Archer Alexander, the very real man who became the model for the rising freedman in the Emancipation Memorial statue. Most Lincoln Group members are familiar with the statue—we participated in a pair of teach-ins in the summer of 2020 when the statue was threatened for destruction by protesters. The statue is still there, and while most focus on the standing figure of Lincoln, Keeven-Franke brings to light the amazing story of the man who would become the controversial crouching figure.
Dorris has been studying Archer Alexander’s extraordinary life, whose escape from slavery and overcoming the trials of the Fugitive Slave Act became an inspiration for many men and women. Dorris is an award-wining writer, public historian, educator, and professional genealogist. A lifelong resident of Missouri, she resides in Saint Charles County and writes about the history of Missouri’s German-American immigrants and African Americans. Her story of Archer Alexander will be told in her forthcoming biography. She will debunk the myths surrounding the statue’s Alexander figure, and bring us into the real world that encompassed his life, including his descendant, Muhammad Ali.
This is a meeting not to be missed.
Find more information and RSVP can be found on the Lincoln Group’s website. Please join us for this wonderful event.
More information on Dorris Keeven-Franke and Archer Alexander can be found on her website (in the links).
[Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP, in the New Republic, July 2020]