FACULTY NEWS | September 15, 2023
On Tuesday, September 19, Clinical Associate Professor of Liberal Studies and New York Times bestselling author Michael Datcher debuts his newest publication and first children's book Harlem at Four. This book, illustrated by award-winning illustrator Frank Morrison, tells the stories of two Harlems: a four-year-old girl and the Manhattan neighborhood.
The first part of Datcher's book describes the adventures of four-year-old Harlem as she and her father bond while exploring museums, music, and science. The second part details the history of the neighborhood of Harlem, diving into the influential role of Philip A. Payton Jr.—founder of the Afro-American Realty Company who is considered the "Father of Harlem." Datcher explains that Payton's practices helped start America's Great Black Migration and helped Black families, like that of the titular four-year-old Harlem, to flourish in the neighborhood.
Datcher will celebrate the publication of his first children's book with a reading, Q&A, and book signing at P&T Knitwear Books & Podcasts on Tuesday, September 19.
In addition to Harlem at Four, Datcher has written the historical novel Americus, the memoir Raising Fences, and a Pulitzer Prize-nominated book of literary theory called Animating Black and Brown Liberation: A Theory of American Literatures.