UPDATE - LECTURE HAS MOVED TO FEBRUARY 24th!!!
Cathy Williams, Image courtesy of the U.S. Army
Modern Times Lecture Series
Telling the Untold Story:
Cathy Williams - The Only Female Buffalo Soldier
Sarah Bird
Thursday, February 24, 2022 | 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM CST
Doors at 6:00, Lecture at 6:30
In Person and Online!
Tickets
$20 General Admission
$15 Students/NCHM Members
Join us on Thursday, February 24, as we welcome acclaimed author Sarah Bird to discuss her 40-year journey researching Cathy Williams, the subject of her recent book, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen (2018). This special Modern Times Happy Hour will feature complimentary cocktails before and after the lecture.
Using the photos and images that inspired her, Sarah Bird shares her 40-year journey with Cathy Williams--the only woman to serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers--and her struggle to bring this American heroine the acclaim she so rightfully deserves.
Cathy Williams was born to an enslaved mother and a free father in Independence, Missouri in 1844. Thrust into U.S. Army in 1861, when Union forces occupied Jefferson City, Missouri, Williams dedicated her life to military service.
Though over 400 women served in the Civil War posing as male soldiers, Williams was the first African American woman to enlist and the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army, while disguised as a man, during the Indian Wars. Williams is also the only known female Buffalo Soldier. Williams' determination to serve her country demonstrates the extraordinary feats women have accomplished simply trying to live their lives.
This lecture is available in person and online through Zoom. Admission is $20 for the general public and $15 for NCHM members and students. Sarah Bird will be available after the lecture to answer questions and sign books. (The NCHM will not have copies of Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen on sale but attendees are welcome to bring their own.)
About the Speaker
Sarah Bird is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, essayist, and journalist. She has published ten novels and two books of essays.
Bird’s last novel Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen was named an All-time Best Books about Texas by the Austin American-Statesman; Best Fiction of 2018. Christian Science Monitor; Favorite Books of 2018. Texas Observer. Chosen by six One City, One Book programs; and a Lit Lovers Book Club Favorites
Bird is a nine-time winner of Austin Best Fiction Writer award. She was recently honored with the University of New Mexico’s 2020 Paul Ré Award for Cultural Advocacy. In 2015 Bird was one of eight winners selected from 3,800 entries to attend the Meryl Streep Screenwriters’ Lab. Bird was chosen in 2017 to represent the Austin Public Library as the hologram/greeter installed in the Austin Downtown Library. Bird was a co-founder of The Writers League of Texas.
Bird was also a finalist for The Dublin International Literary Award; an ALEX award winner; Amazon Literature Best of the Year selection; a two-time winner of the TIL’s Best Novel award; a B&N’s Discover Great Writers selection; a New York Public Libraries Books to Remember; an honoree of theTexas Writers Hall of Fame; an Amazon Literature Best of the Year selection; a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship; and an Austin Libraries Illumine Award for Excellence in Fiction winner. In 2014 she was named Texas Writer of the Year by the Texas Book Festival and presented with a pair of custom-made boots on the floor of the Texas Senate Chamber.
Bird has been an NPR Moth Radio Hour storyteller; a writer for Oprah’s Magazine, NY Times Sunday Magazine and Op Ed columns, Chicago Tribune, Real Simple, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Salon, Daily Beast, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, MS, Texas Observer; Alcalde and a columnist for six years for Texas Monthly.
