Events and Exhibits
Freeing Joan Little: Gender, Incarceration, and Struggles for Justice
Date: Thursday, January 29th, 2026
Time: 5:00 – 6:30pm
Location: Smith Warehouse, Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4; 114 S Buchanan Blvd, Durham, NC
In 1974, a twenty-year-old Black woman named Joan Little found herself facing the death penalty for killing a white guard who had tried to rape her in an eastern North Carolina prison. The folks who campaigned on Little’s behalf understood the webs of sexual violence, state violence, and racialized carcerality that ensnared her, and they linked her trial to other sites of existential concern for Black women’s—and everyone’s—liberation. Her August 1975 acquittal spoke to the power of their critique and the reach of their organizing. 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this landmark case that still offers lessons in the struggle for justice.
Join historian Christina Greene, Ph.D. ’96, and death penalty lawyer Shelagh Kenney to discuss what Joan Little tells us about gender, incarceration, and state violence then and now.
Christina Greene is professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of Free Joan Little: The Politics of Race, Sexual Violence, and Imprisonment; Shelagh Kenney, is Interim Director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Adriane Lentz-Smith, Associate Professor of History and African & African American Studies at Duke University, will introduce and moderate the discussion.
In addition to the panel, an exhibition of items related to Joan Little, including one of her handwritten, illustrated poems, will be on display in Perkins Library during the month of January 2026.
Becoming Trustworthy White Allies-Melanie Morrison’s Book Launch
Author, activist, and racial justice educator Melanie Morrison read from her new book, Becoming Trustworthy White Allies (Duke University Press, 2025) on September 11, 2025. The reading was co-sponsored by the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South.
In this collection of essays, lectures, and real-life stories, antiracism facilitator Melanie S. Morrison outlines the actions white people must undertake to become trustworthy partners in the work of racial justice.
When: September 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: via zoom
Order the book: HERE.
Celebrating Dorothy Allison
The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture celebrates Dorothy Allison. On April 30. 2025 we hosted a gathering that included selected readings, reflections, and memories honoring the life and legacies of queer Southern writer Dorothy Allison. Speakers included Mab Segrest, Laura Micham, Kelly Wooten, and others. Attendees were invited to share remembrances.
When: Wednesday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m.
Where: Rubenstein Library Room 249
An "Open Mesh of Possibilities” : Thinking Queerness with
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s Archive
February 21, 2025 – August 15, 2025
Location: Mary Duke Biddle Room
This exhibit explores the multifaceted ways in which the writings and artwork of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950 - 2009) brings queerness into life. A poet, literary critic, artist, mentor, professor, and former faculty member at Duke, Sedgwick is perhaps best known as one of the founders of the field of Queer theory. Objects are primarily selected from the Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Papers.
Exhibit website: https://library.duke.edu/exhibits/2025/Sedgwick
Curator: Katherine Carithers, Ph.D student, English Department, Duke University
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Exhibit Opening Event
Wednesday. February 26, 2025 (11 am - 6pm)
Event recordings:
Sponsored by: the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture; Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Foundation; Duke Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies; Duke Program in Literature; Duke Department of English; Franklin Humanities Institute; and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.
Link to event recording coming soon.
Women at the Center
Winter, 2025 Newsletter: Processing Denise Jones's papers by Technical Services Intern, kemisa kassa; Processing round-up by Technical Services Archivist, Ren Bickel; news and notes from researchers and others; newly acquired materials; and classes supported this Fall.
During the summer and fall of 2023 we were pleased to offer an exhibit, Mandy Carter: Scientist of Activism, curated with intention by Kamau Pope, honoring the decades-long work of Mandy Carter, a Durham, NC-based Black lesbian feminist activist who has been central in the struggle for social justice, especially nonviolent resistance, Black freedom movements, and queer liberation.
The exhibit design was created by a Durham, NC-based, Black-owned firm, Kompleks Creative, and the typeface was designed, in honor of Mandy Carter, by Tré Seals of Vocal Type.
Access the online exhibit and event recordings here.
EXHIBIT EVENTS:
Opening Event: Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Rubenstein Library
Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. , via zoom
“Looking Back, Marching Forward: Mandy Carter, Walter Naegle, Barbara Smith, and Kamau Pope in Conversation,” reflecting on the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the 30th anniversary of the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation (1993), and the urgency of connecting history with current struggles for freedom and justice.
Event recording here.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 5:00 p.m., Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room, Rubenstein Library
"In Conversation about the National Black Justice Coalition: Mandy Carter, Victoria Kirby York (NBJC), Eric D. Martin (NCCU), and Kamau Pope (Duke)" exploring the history and future of America’s leading national civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people.
Event recording here.
Friday, November 10, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Chappell Family Gallery, Rubenstein Library
Guided Tour and Writing workshop with Mandy Carter.
In partnership with the Griot and Grey Owl Black Southerns Writers Conference
Event recording here.
Writing and Talking about Memoir: Little Brother, a Conversation with Sallie Bingham
The Bingham Center hosted a zoom-based conversation with author Sallie Bingham on Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET. In her latest memoir, Little Brother, Bingham reflects on her youngest sibling, Jonathan, and his all-too brief life. To learn more about this book or to purchase a copy, visit Sarabande Books.
View the recording of this event here.
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Audio, exhibits, photos & videos of our past programs are online.
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