Attica Uprising Is Focus of History Weekend

The history department hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Thompson as the featured speaker at this year’s History Weekend, April 13-14.

Thompson, a history professor at the University of Michigan, is the author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. Her talk,“The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Why it Matters Today,” is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 14, in Withers Hall, Room 140.

Ghosts of Attica, a documentary that includes footage shot inside the prison during the four-day rebellion, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 13, in Withers 140. Thompson will participate in a short Q&A session following the film.

The theme of this year’s History Weekend is mass incarceration. In 1971 nearly 1,300 men took over one of the nation’s most infamous prisons, the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. That historic uprising to secure basic human rights was met with deadly force. Thompson shares the story of this dramatic rebellion, its tragic end and the depth of the coverup that followed it.

More information about History Weekend is available online.

Featured talks are free and open to the public, but registration is recommended. Contact Ingrid Hoffius at ibhoffiu@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-2313 to reserve your seat.