Former TIME Editor Richard Stengel to Speak at National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
MEDIA CONTACT:
Will Jones
(513) 333-7558
(513) 288-4834
wjones@nurfc.org
Jamie Glavic
(513) 333-7511
(513) 802-7355
jglavic@nurfc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CINCINNATI, OH (May 25, 2017) – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will host former TIME editor and author Richard Stengel on Thursday, June 15 at 6:00 p.m. Stengel, the latest speaker in the John & Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series will discuss his work, Mandela’s Way: Lessons of Life, Love and Courage. The lecture is free and open to the public. RSVPs are requested.
The John & Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series connects the public with award-winning authors, historians and thought-leaders, discussing themes on history, race, culture and modern abolition. Cincy Magazine is the print media sponsor for the 2016-2017 series.
In Mandela’s Way: Lessons of Life, Love and Courage, Stengel details moments when Nelson Mandela was tested and shares wisdom testimonies such as: why courage is more than the absence of fear, why we should keep our rivals close, why the answer is not always either/or but often “both,” how important it is for each of us to find something away from the world that gives us pleasure and satisfaction—our own garden. Woven into these life lessons are remarkable stories—of Mandela’s childhood as the protégé of a tribal king, of his early days as a freedom fighter, of the twenty-seven-year imprisonment that could not break him, and of his fulfilling remarriage at the age of eighty.
“We are honored to have Mr. Stengel join the John and Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series and share his memories of working with Nelson Mandela,” says Christopher Miller, Manager of Program Initiatives at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “Nelson Mandela’s story is one of forgiveness, leadership, truth and sacrifice. We can all learn how to confront injustice and inequality by having a greater understanding of Mandela’s legacy.”
Richard Allen Stengel is an American editor, journalist and author. He was the 16th managing editor of TIME magazine and served as President Barack Obama’s Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, stepping down in December 2016. From 2004 to 2006, Stengel was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. In 2000, Stengel served as a Senior Adviser and Chief Speechwriter for Bill Bradley’s Presidential campaign. In 1999, Stengel was the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton. From 1992 to 1994, Stengel worked with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. He has written for many publications and is the author of several books. He began his career at TIME in 1981 as a writer and correspondent. He received a B.A. from Princeton University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church at the University of Oxford.
The John and Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series with Richard Allen Stengel at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is Thursday, June 15, at 6:00 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. RSVPs are requested. For more information about exhibits and programs at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, visit freedomcenter.org.
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, more than 1.3 million people have visited its permanent and changing exhibits and public programs, inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom. Two million people have utilized educational resources online at freedomcenter.org, working to connect the lessons of the Underground Railroad to inform and inspire today’s global and local fight for freedom. Partnerships include Historians Against Slavery, Polaris Project, Free the Slaves, US Department of State and International Justice Mission. In 2014, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center launched a new online resource in the fight against modern slavery, endslaverynow.org.