Please join Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in welcoming award-winning journalist Alison Stewart to discuss and sign copies of her book, First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School.
Dunbar High School began in a church basement shortly after the Civil War and grew into an academic powerhouse that rivaled white public and private institutions at its height in the 1940s and 50s. Alumni include the first black Presidential Cabinet member, the first black General in the U.S. Army, the first black federal judge and the current Mayor of Washington, D.C. First Class explores an underrepresented and largely unknown aspect of black history.
Alison Stewart has been a part of the summer community on Martha’s Vineyard her whole life—her parents, who are both graduates of Dunbar High School, are buried on Martha’s Vineyard. Stewart's 20-year career includes anchoring and reporting for MTV, PBS, NBC News, ABC News, and CBS News. Most recently she was the host of the NPR program, The TED Radio Hour.