Join us for an author talk with Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss her book, Harlem Rhapsody, a book our Historical Book Club loved about Jessie Redmon Fauset and her hand in the Harlem Renaissance.

In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all.

W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor, finding sixteen-year-old Countee Cullen, seventeen-year-old Langston Hughes, and Nella Larsen, who becomes one of her best friends. Under Jessie’s leadership, The Crisis thrives…every African American writer in the country wants their work published there.

When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater, and the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.

Victoria Christopher Murray is a New York Times and USA Today best selling author of more than 30 novels, including the New York Times Instant Best Sellers, The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies.

Douglass Legacy Day

Celebrate the history of Douglass High School with us on Saturday, October 11 from 12PM to 5PM! The first and only Black high school in Loudoun County from 1941-1968. Enjoy activities, entertainment, educational experiences, giveaways, community vendors, food trucks, and more for all ages as we commemorate this monumental legacy.