Book Talk Panel Discussion on “Secrets Under the Parking Lot,” by Diane Kelly Runyon and Kim Shoemaker Starr

Thursday, September 5, 6:30-8pm, The Hub on Kenny, 4510 Kenny Rd.

The United States owes a lot to its pioneers — the people who tamed the wilderness. But why is the history of certain American settlers still largely concealed?

“Secrets under the Parking Lot” shines a light on some of that hidden history, examining the legacy of one African-American family in central Ohio.

Pleasant Litchford and his family, all freed slaves, settled in Perry Township [Franklin County, Ohio], now Upper Arlington, in 1832. A blacksmith by profession, he lived in harmony with his white neighbors, eventually becoming a millionaire and the fourth-largest landowner.

Fast-forwarded to 1915, policies in Upper Arlington prohibited blacks from owning land. Later, the remains of the Litchfords and other African-Americans were uprooted and moved to unmarked graves.

As “Secrets under the Parking Lot” reveals, the history we learn isn’t always the whole story.

Hosted by Equal UA.