People with information about the Alexandria Library Sit-in that Samuel W. Tucker organized in 1939 and Tucker’s legacy were interviewed by New America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. Tucker was included in the 2023 Virginia Standards of Learning (learning objectives) as one of the famous Virginians students will study. In…
Continue reading: Samuel W. Tucker Curriculum MaterialsAuthor: nancynoyessilcoxbooks
Telling Samuel Wilbert Tucker’s story in the Alexandria, VA church his family attended and where he played the piano, was especially meaningful for me. I was thrilled to be invited and pleased so many people, including neighbors, wanted to know more about Tucker and his work to desegregate public libraries…
Continue reading: Tucker Talk at Zion Baptist Church, Feb. 12, 2023March 26, 2022 I’ll be talking about Samuel Wilbert Tucker: The Story of a Civil Rights Trailblazer and the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in. Included are highlights of the sit-in and Tucker’s fifty year legal career arguing school desegregation cases and fighting for fairness, equality and justice.
Continue reading: 50 North Senior Center Author TalkCaroline has been living in Cincinnati since she moved there with her family in 1849. Now in 1856, Papa and Mama share the “exciting news” that they will be moving to New Ulm, Minnesota the next spring. Free thinking Turnverien members in Cincinnati joined with a group of German immigrants from Chicago to create a German settlement on the frontier. There they would be free from persecution for their way of life and their “foreigness.” They could create a place that promoted mental and physical education where they could freely embrace socializing, music, political discussions and a German way of life while working hard and providing for their families.
Caroline is not happy with this news. It means leaving the place that she has known forever. Leaving her friends and most importantly, leaving her cat, Putsy Patterfeet. The trip down the Ohio River, up the Mississippi and then up the Minnesota River is a trip too long, even for a beloved cat.
Caroline is fiercely independent and has many questions. Mama says she questions what others assume. Why they have to move? Why is Minnesota the best place to go? Where will be live? How will Papa work? These are the answers Caroline seeks.
Continue reading: A Place Called Home: The Story of German Immigrants from Cincinatti, OH to New Ulm, MN 1856-1862Follow the story of the fictional Beck family as they move from Cincinnati, Ohio to the new western frontier town of New Ulm, Minnesota in 1857. As they learn to live in a new place that the indigenous Dakota also call home, they experience the challenges of building a house,…
Continue reading: A Place Called Home: German Immigrant in Minnesota 1856-1862Growing up in New Ulm, Minnesota, I didn’t learn much about the war on the prairie in 1862. New Ulm was one of the places attacked by Dakota warriors. That’s really the only fact I knew. When a chance comment got my curiosity activated, I began searching for sources…
Continue reading: US-Dakota War of 1862The Story of a Civil Rights Trailblazer and the 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In. The earliest known sit-in for civil rights occurred at the Alexandria (Virginia) Public Library on August 21, 1939. In Samuel Wilbert Tucker, Nancy Silcox charts the story of a young African American lawyer who grew up in Alexandria…
Continue reading: Author Talk at Arlington Central Library, Feb 26th, 7pmOn a rainy night, a lively crowd heard about the 1939 Alexandria Library sit-in and Samuel Wilbert Tucker’s work to challenge discrimination and school segregation through the courts.
Continue reading: Alexandria Public Library Author Talk, Dec 9, 2019Excited to talk about Samuel Wilbert Tucker’s life, the library sit-in and my research journey to tell the story at Alexandria’s Beatley Library on Dec. 9th at 7 pm.
Continue reading: 80th Anniversary 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in Author Talk Dec 9thThe Alexandria Gazette highlights the Alexandria Library’s 80th anniversary event that recognized the family of youngest sit-in protester, William “Buddy” Evans. The family helped the library create READ posters that will hang in all the branches to remind us that 80 years ago the young protesters courageously challenged a system that…
Continue reading: 80th Anniversary of 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-in