[applause] >> good morning, my name again is michelle purdy. it's an honor and a humbling experience to be in the state capital of my home state. i was born and raised in jackson mississippi and i attended saint andrews of this couple school growing up so i think those in the cloud from saint andrews, i see some spaces and i think those who are tuning in, i think the book festival forinviting me to be part of this and i think this great panel that i'm a part of today . my first book, solo author book is entitled transforming the elite, black students and the desegregation of private schools and while it is not set here in mississippi, there are pieces of mississippi civil rights history that are important to understanding how and why elite private schools, schools such as saint andrews eg in jackson, why they decided to desegregate in the 1960s when they were not legally obligated to do so. the 1954 brown decision did not apply to private schools. >> .. as to why these elite private schools decided to desegregate. i focused my work on the westm

michelle purdy, pushing forward. mr. hezekiah watkins, thank you so much.[inaudible conversations]

give him a hand please michelle purdy is a professor of education and affiliate faculty member of the disciplinary programs in urban studies and the center on urban research and public policy at washington university in st. louis and coeditor of using contemporary perspectives on african-american educational history. give her hand please. [applause] and last but truly not least. heather watkins. in 1961 she was at the greyhound bus to see in jacksonville mississippi at the age of 13 where he was sent in a paddy wagon to mississippi state penitentiary known as the penitentiary and placed on death row. please give him a hand. [applause] i want to panelists to give a five-minute overview of their book, give the name and talk a little bit about it. we will start with ms. adams. >> thank you. and on behalf of my husband who is who is here in my better half in the co-author of my book, the struggle for desegregation in mississippi and i want to tell you how appreciative we are about being part of this book festival and thank you so much for inviting us. to talk about our book, i wanted to g