FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Media Contacts:Anne Robichaux
The Historic New Orleans Collection
(504) 598-7137
anner@hnoc.org

Sarah Chambless Federer
Gambel Communications
(504) 324-4242
sarahc@gambelpr.com


Winner of 2014 Williams Prize in Louisiana History to discuss and sign
"The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case"

WHO: The Historic New Orleans Collection with author and historian Michael A. Ross

WHAT: Lecture and book signing for "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era" (Oxford University Press, 2014)

WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 • 6-7:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St. in the French Quarter

HOW: This event is free and open to the public. The book retails for $27.95 and is available at THNOC's museum store, The Shop at The Collection. For more information, call
(504) 523-4662 or visit www.hnoc.org.

WHY: The Historic New Orleans Collection and the Louisiana Historical Association selected Michael A. Ross's second book "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era" (Oxford University Press, 2014) as the winner of the 2014 Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History. Ross will be in New Orleans Wednesday, July 22, to discuss and sign copies of his book at The Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St., from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
   In "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case," Ross, a legal historian and associate professor of history at the University of Maryland, offers the first full account of a late-19th-century crime that electrified the South at one of the most critical moments in the history of American race relations. In June 1870, an Irish toddler was kidnapped by two African American women, which launched a highly publicized investigation. Ross traces the crime from the moment it was committed through the sensationalized trial that followed, all the while chronicling the escalating hysteria as news and rumors surrounding the crime spread. Painting a vivid picture of the Reconstruction-era South, "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case" uncovers the complexities and possibilities that faced a newly integrated society.
   The book, which retails for $27.95, will be available for purchase at the event. Visit www.hnoc.org or call (504) 523-4662 for more information.

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About The Historic New Orleans Collection
Founded in 1966, The Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center and publisher dedicated to the study and preservation of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. For more information, visit www.hnoc.org or call
(504) 523-4662.

About the author
Michael A. Ross is associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. He holds a law degree from Duke University and a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of "Justice of Shattered Dreams: Samuel Freeman Miller and the Supreme Court During the Civil War Era" (LSU Press, 2003) in addition to "The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era" (Oxford University Press, 2014).

About the Kemper and Leila Williams Prize
The Kemper and Leila Williams Prize, named for the founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection, is offered annually by THNOC and the Louisiana Historical Association. Since its inception in 1974, the prize has recognized excellence in research and writing on Louisiana history. Recipients receive a cash award of $1,500 and a plaque and are announced at the LHA's annual meeting each March.