For release: January 30, 2013
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901-678-2843

Callie Crossley

Callie Crossley, talk show host for WGBH-FM in Boston and co-producer of the highly acclaimed PBS documentary series Eyes on the Prize, will explore the history of the civil rights movement during Black History Month at the University of Memphis. The native Memphian will speak at the annual Norm Brewer First Amendment Lecture Series on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. in the University Center Theatre.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Since last July, Crossley has been lead host of “Boston Public Radio,” which covers national and local politics, public affairs, arts and culture. Earlier she hosted “The Callie Crossley Show” on WGBH. A graduate of Wellesley College, she received fellowships from the Nieman Foundation and from the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Parking is available in the Zach Curlin garage adjacent to the University Center.

The lecture is sponsored by the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism and the U of M chapters of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Two episodes of Eyes on the Prize will be shown Monday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. in Room 100 of the Meeman Journalism Building. The episodes, both of which were produced by Crossley, are “No Easy Walk (1961-63)” and “Bridge to Freedom (1965).” Both are about 50 minutes each.

Eyes on the Prize, which debuted in 1986, explored the history of the civil rights movement. It continues to be the definitive documentary chronicling the events that initiated the movement from 1955 through 1968.