Richmond Author Margaret Edds, whose recent book addresses the legal team noted for dismantling Jim Crow legislation, will hold a lecture and book signing at the Robert Russa Moton Museum April 19 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The book, called “We Face the Dawn: Oliver Hill, Spottswood Robinson and the Legal Team that Dismantled Jim Crow,” was published in February by the University of Virginia Press.

“Edds tells the gripping story of two pioneering Virginia lawyers who were essential partners of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., in demolishing forced segregation in American schools, housing, and transportation,” a description of the event and Edds’ book noted. “Their contributions to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and other seminal cases helped transform a state, a region, and a nation.”

The event is co-sponsored between the Prince Edward County Branch of the NAACP and the Moton Museum.

Museum Director Cam Patterson said the history of the museum and the history of the legal team presented in the book both demonstrate the history of U.S. Civil Rights. This intersection is especially realized as Patterson noted that Robinson and Hill took the 1951 case Davis et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, which focused on inequality of school conditions for African-American children at Robert R. Moton High School.

“We feel that there is no better place for Margaret to tell that story than here at Moton,” Patterson said. “A place where these two men worked with students to help advance civil rights in education.”

Edds, prior to the book’s publication, worked 34 years with The Virginian Pilot and wrote several books that have focused on racial justice.

Patterson said the Prince Edward NAACP and the museum are excited to host the lecture and book signing.

“Margaret is a talented journalist and author, and I think it is going to be an excellent event,” Patterson said.