By the Book Author Series

A Celebration of Research, Writing, and the Grand Reopening of the Western Reserve Historical Society's Library

Beginning this October, we invite you to experience the Cleveland History Center in a brand-new way through our By the Book Author Series. Join us in the newly renovated WRHS Research Library as we highlight scholars’ work on various aspects of history relating to Northeast Ohio. Hear from the authors as they discuss topics ranging from the historic to the sociological, then enjoy a networking session for more in-depth conversation with the authors and WRHS staff.

Tickets

WRHS Members: FREE

Adults: $15

Seniors (62+): $13

Veterans: $12

College: $10

Tickets include the book discussion and networking hour, as well as full museum admission. Participants will receive a 10% discount on authors’ works if purchased through the WRHS Museum Store. Participants will also receive $5 flat rate parking in our Visitor Lot.

Part of a book club? Ask us about special discounted admission rates for groups! For more information, email Whitney Stalnaker, Public Programs Manager, at [email protected].

Light refreshments and beverages will be available for purchase.

Fashioning Black Womanhood: How African Americans Influenced the Fashion Industry and Fought for Equality

Presenters: Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Patty Edmonson, Dru Thompson

Date: Thurs., Oct. 7, 2021

Time: 6:00-7:00pm

Location: Cleveland History Center

Event Description

From slavery to the present day, fashion has served an important means for Black women to express their identities and to fight for racial equality. This coming panel, concurrent with the exhibition Amanda Wicker: Black Fashion Design in Cleveland, will discuss how Black women carved themselves a space as fashion experts and influencers and how the industry became an avenue to claim freedoms in Cleveland and beyond.

Speakers include Patricia Edmonson, Museum Advisory Council Curator of Costume and Textiles at WRHS, Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, a fashion historian who will discuss her new book Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism, and Dru Thompson.

Speaker Bios

Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox

Dr. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox teaches American and Women's and Gender History at Case Western Reserve University. She examines the connections between fashion, politics, and modernity, and her writing appeared both in scholarly journals and books as well as venues such as The Washington Post, PBS, and The Conversation. Her book, Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism explores how women used fashion to challenge race and gender identities and to promote feminist agendas in the late 20th century.

Patty Edmonson

As the Museum Advisory Council Curator of Costume & Textiles, Patty Edmonson curates a collection of over 40,000 objects that tell the stories of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. She received an MA from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Her fashion exhibitions in the Chisholm Halle Costume Wing include Political Fashion Statements (2016), Wow Factor: 150 Years of Collecting Bold Clothes (2017), Mad for Plaid (2018), Si Jolie! French Fashion in Cleveland (2019), and Amanda Wicker: Black Fashion Design in Cleveland (2021). In addition, she curated the exhibit E. Theophilus Caviness: Church Community, Cleveland, and is actively working to create a more diverse textile collection that represents all walks of life in Cleveland.