Events this week - Martha S Jones in conversation with Joanne Wiliams, Erica Ruth Neubauer in conversation with Tim Hennessy, Margot Bloomstein in conversation with Ash Dzick

Here's what's going on at Boswell this week

Monday, March 29, 7 pm
Martha S Jones, author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All
In conversation with Joanne Williams for a virtual event

Cohosted by America's Black Holocaust Museum.
Register for this event here.

Boswell Book Company presents and evening with Martha S Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History of Johns Hopkins. Her new book Vanguard documents the epic history of African American women's pursuit of political power, and how it transformed America.  We're thrilled that for this event, Professor Jones will be in conversation with longtime television journalist Joanne Williams, producer of the forthcoming documentary, Kaukona & King: 50 Years Later.

From The New York Times, Jennifer Szalai writes: "Jones has written an elegant and expansive history of Black women who sought to build political power where they could... Jones is an assiduous scholar and an absorbing writer, turning to the archives to unearth the stories of Black women who worked alongside white suffragists only to be marginalized, in what often amounted to a 'dirty compromise with white supremacy.'"

In the standard story, the suffrage crusade began in Seneca Falls in 1848 and ended with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. But this overwhelmingly white women's movement did not win the vote for most black women. Jones offers a new history of African American women's political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and beyond, Jones excavates the lives and work of black women - Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Fannie Lou Hamer, and more - who were the vanguard of women's rights, calling on America to realize its best ideals.

Martha S Jones is also President of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, the oldest and largest association of women historians in the United States. She is author of Birthright Citizens and All Bound up Together and has written for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and USA Today. Longtime television journalist Joanne Williams was a longtime Fox6 television journalist and most recently the host of Milwaukee PBS's Black Nouveau. More about Kaukauna & King: 50 Years Later here.

Tuesday, March 30, 7 pm
Erica Ruth Neubauer, author of Murder at Wedgefield Manor
in conversation with Tim Hennessy for a virtual Thrillwaukee event

Register for this event here.

Erica Ruth Neubauer is an eleven-year military veteran and has been a police officer, high school teacher, retail worker (like us!), mystery reviewer, and even a detective. But we're celebrating her work as a novelist and the recent nominations of Murder at the Mena House for Best First Novel for the Agathas (Malice Domestic) and the Leftys (Left Coast Crime) with a launch event for the release of the second novel in her series featuring the adventures of amateur detective Jane Wunderly. For this event, Neubauer will be in conversation with Tim Hennessy, mystery critic and editor of Milwaukee Noir.

England, 1926: Wedgefield Manor, deep in the tranquil Essex countryside, provides a welcome rest stop for Jane and her matchmaking Aunt Millie before their return to America. While Millie spends time with her long-lost daughter, Lillian, and their host, Lord Hughes, Jane fills the hours devouring mystery novels and taking flying lessons - much to Millie’s disapproval. But any danger in the air is eclipsed by tragedy on the ground when one of the estate’s mechanics, Air Force veteran Simon Marshall, is killed in a motorcar collision.

The sliced brake cables prove this was no accident, yet was the intended victim someone other than Simon? The house is full of suspects - visiting relations, secretive servants, strangers prowling the grounds at night - and also full of targets. The enigmatic Mr. Redvers, who helped Jane solve a murder in Egypt, arrives on the scene to once more offer his assistance. It seems that everyone at Wedgefield wants Jane to help protect the Hughes family. But while she searches for answers, is she overlooking a killer hiding in plain sight?

Ask for your signed copy. Personalizations also available.

Wednesday, March 31, 6 pm
Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap
in conversation with Ash Dzick for a Virtual Event

Cohosted by Brew City UX
Register for this event here.

Margot Bloomstein is content strategist, author, and principal of Appropriate, Inc whose work has influenced a range of industries. She’ll chat about Trustworthy, which looks at the problem of how marketers need a strategy to earn trust, act with transparency, and help consumers and citizens make confident decisions without being undermined by cynicism. She'll be in conversation with Ash Dzick of Brew City UX, a group of professionals passionate about crafting meaningful user experiences and growing the vibrant Milwaukee UX (user experience design) community.

To regain the trust of consumers and citizens, marketers talk about empathy and authenticity. But how do you get beyond those buzzwords? In Trustworthy, Bloomstein examines what works among teams of all stripes and sizes, She casts a broad net to capture the experiences of copywriters, designers, creative directors, and CMOs - people who work to build trust through imagery, editorial style, storytelling, and retail design. She brings her trademark blend of insight and encouragement to guest lecture in business, design, and humanities programs, sparking students to embrace a more thoughtful vision of their role in the broader industry.

Design professionals are raving about Trustworthy. Khoi Vinh Senior, Direct of Design for Adobe, says "We live in a time where cynicism reigns. This book shines a light for those who want to build companies and brands that are honest, optimistic, enduring, and able to contribute real value to the world."

More on the Boswell upcoming events page.