History Professor Takes Students on a Freedom Ride

Students, faculty and staff enjoyed a performance of Freedom Riders, a play written by School of Liberal Arts adjunct faculty member Tom Quinn, in The Kanbar Campus Center Performance Space Oct. 26.

Performed by the Walnut Street Theater Outreach Company, Freedom Riders depicts the story of two girls and their participation in the 1960 Freedom Rides, including their encounters with historical figures Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X.

First performed in 2000 and published in 2001, Freedom Riders is part of a civil-rights trilogy by Quinn, which includes his plays No Easy Road to Freedom and Martin and Malcolm: How Long Must We Wait. Previously a high-school history teacher, Quinn wrote the series as a way to interest his students in the Civil Rights Movement. “I was frustrated by students’ disinterest and wanted to enliven the already wonderful stories that make up American history.”

Quinn is also author of The Boy Who Cried Bully, a play intended for elementary-school children, and is currently working on a new play that discusses teenage girls’ battles with social acceptance and body image.