Join us for a live online conversation with Alex Tresniowski, author of The Rope: A True Story of Murder, Heroism, and the Dawn of the NAACP. This true-crime thriller recounts the 1910 murder of ten-year-old Marie Smith, the dawn of modern criminal detection, and the launch of the NAACP. Joining him in conversation will be Dr. Marlene A. Saunders.

Occurring exactly halfway between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the formal beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in 1954, the brutal murder and its highly-covered investigation sits at the historic intersection of sweeping national forces—religious extremism, class struggle, the infancy of criminal forensics, and America’s Jim Crow racial violence. Gripping and powerful, The Rope is an important piece of history that gives a voice to the voiceless and resurrects a long-forgotten true crime story that speaks to the very divisions tearing at the nation’s fabric today.

Alex Tresniowski is a NY-based writer and author or coauthor of more than twenty books, including the 2005 true-crime thriller The Vendetta, which was used as a basis for the 2009 movie Public Enemies. He formerly worked for both Time and People magazines, handling mostly human-interest stories.

This program is co-sponsored by The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, a non-partisan organization that educates, informs, and advocates for racial justice, equality, and fair opportunity.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from 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. 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. Closed captioning is available for this session. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

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