William Alexander Leidesdorff: Histories of the Black Pacific (March 16 at 1 p.m.)
Born to a Danish-Jewish father and Afro Caribbean mother in the Virgin Islands at the beginning of the nineteenth-century, William Alexander Leidesdorff sailed both the Atlantic and Pacific, forged fresh trade routes, built influential relationships, and eventually settled in the Sacramento Valley where he became one of the nation's first African American millionaires. Join us at Central Library on March 16 at 1:00 pm as American River College professor of social studies Michael Harlan shares his research on this figure who - transitioning from mariner to landholder - became one of the most influential figures on the early development of California. Facilitated by the Sacramento Room, this is a free program and no registration is required.
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