A Conversation with Anneliese Bruner

Join us for a conversation with Anneliese Bruner about The Nation Must Awake: My Witness to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, written by her great-grandmother Mary E. Jones Parrish and now published for a wide audience for the first time. 

About the book:

The Nation Must Awake is Parrish's first-person account, along with the recollections of dozens of others, compiled immediately following the tragedy under the name Events of the Tulsa Race Disaster. With meticulous attention to detail that transports readers to those fateful days, Parrish documents the magnitude of the loss of human life and property at the hands of white vigilantes. The testimonies shine light on Black residents' bravery and the horror of seeing their neighbors gunned down and their community lost to flames. 

About the speaker:

Anneliese M. Bruner, the great-granddaughter of Mary E. Jones Parrish, is a writer and editor who has worked in the business, media, and nonprofit sectors. She attended Bryn Mawr College. Her writing has appeared in Honey Magazine, Savoy Magazine, USAID FrontLines, and The Lily (Washington Post). She was born and raised in San Francisco, with stints in Oakland, and still considers California her home. She has lived in Washington, D.C., for more than thirty-five years. 

This program is presented in partnership with the Charles L. Blockson Collection of African-Americana and the African Diaspora at Penn State Special Collections Library. 

This program will be presented via Zoom. On the day of the program, use this link to join: https://temple.zoom.us/j/91244583541

Our programs are geared toward a general audience and are open to all, including Temple students, faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors, and friends. Registration is encouraged.  

Photo by Erin Schaff