In collaboration with the History Book Festival, join us to talk with Pam Fessler, author of Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice, one of the books featured at the 2020 virtual History Book Festival.

An old sugar plantation in Louisiana, called Carville by locals, was the site of the only leprosy colony in the continental United States, where generations of afflicted Americans were isolated—often against their will and until their deaths. Amid widespread public anxiety about foreign contamination and contagion, patients were deprived of basic rights and shunned by those outside. This is the story of the patients, nurses, doctors, and researchers at Carville who struggled for over a century to eradicate Hansen’s disease, the modern name for leprosy.  

Pam Fessler is a national correspondent with NPR News, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting. This is her first book, written after she discovered an unexpected family connection to Carville. Steve Drummond will interview Fessler during the event. Drummond is the executive producer of the NPR podcast about race, Code Switch, and of NPR’s education reporting project, NPR Ed.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of her book from the Festival's official bookseller, Browseabout Books, by clicking HERE. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

NOTE: this meeting is being conducted through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER to receive instructions for joining the meeting.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email the History Book Festival.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here.