Pendle Hill First Monday Series: Vincent Harding, former distinguished visiting faculty member at Swarthmore 1985-86, Honorary Degree Swarthmore 1987, speaks on “Loved into Life: An Autobiographical Reflection”
May 5, 2014
7:30-9:00 pm
The Barn at Pendle Hill
338 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford, PA
Free and open to the public; no reservations required.
Dr. Harding will be introduced by Professor Keith Reeves, Swarthmore College, Department of Political Science.
Join activist-teacher-historian Vincent Harding in an evening of dialogue and exchange about what it means to be loved into life — how the call to love one another speaks to our deepest humanity and draws us forth to stand against injustice and all that diminishes our world community. Vincent Harding has returned to Pendle Hill to work on his memoirs after a lifetime of teaching and activism. He invites you to join him as he shares reflections on how he has been loved into life — and to share your stories of how you have responded to love’s call.
A native of New York City, Vincent Harding holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. Harding and his late wife, Rosemarie Freeney Harding, worked as full-time teachers, activists, encouragers, and negotiators in the Southern Freedom Movement in the 60’s and were Friends and co-workers with such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer. (Harding provided the initial draft for King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in New York City.) He chaired the History and Sociology Department at Spelman College in Atlanta for several years, and in 1968 became the director of the Martin Luther King Memorial Center and chair of the nationally televised CBS Black Heritage series. Harding was one of the organizers and the first director of the Institute of the Black World, founded in Atlanta in 1969. After holding several research positions and visiting professorships (including two years on the staff of Pendle Hill), he served as professor of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver for nearly a quarter of a century and is now professor emeritus and a trustee at Iliff.
For more information, contact John Meyer at 610-566-4507 ext. 129.
