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Evanston Public Library will host “The Stadium and American Democracy: What’s Next?” at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7. The event will feature Frank Andre Guridy, an award-winning historian and author of three books. Guridy, a professor of history and African American studies and executive director of the Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights at Columbia University, will discuss his book The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play. A Q&A session and a book signing courtesy of Bookends & Beginnings will follow the talk.

Talk details

As the third decade of the 21st century unfolds, stadium construction projects continue seemingly unabated. Sports franchises, college athletic programs and their political supporters tout the benefits of stadiums, even as construction and maintenance costs skyrocket and they remain increasingly inaccessible to the vast majority of Americans. Yet the overdetermination of these structures as sports facilities masks their longstanding political functions in American society. This talk examines the contentious political history of the American stadium, showing how it has been — and continues to be — a barometer of the state of democracy in the country’s past and present.

This event is in partnership with Northwestern University’s Department of History.