Literary In The Lounge Presents Award-Winning Historian Matthew Delmont With His New Book HALF AMERICAN, February 28 at The Music Hall Lounge

On Wednesday, February 28 at 7pm, award-winning historian, civil rights expert, and Dartmouth professor Matthew Delmont visits The Music Hall Lounge with his new book, HALF AMERICAN. An essential and meticulously researched retelling of the war, Half American offers readers the definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective.

“We are honored to have Matthew Delmont kick off our 2024 Literary in the Lounge season with his incredibly important book, Half American,” says Brittany Wason, Literary Producer. “This is sure to be an eye-opening and engaging event about this often-forgotten time in America's history.” 

The 7pm event includes an author conversation, an audience Q&A, and followed by a post-show meet-and-greet. It will be held at The Music Hall Lounge at 131 Congress St., Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

More than one million Black soldiers served in World War II. Black troops were at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and the Battle of the Bulge, serving in segregated units while waging a dual battle against inequality in the very country for which they were laying down their lives. The stories of these Black veterans have long been ignored, cast aside in favor of the myth of the “Good War” fought by the “Greatest Generation.” And yet, without their sacrifices, the United States could not have won the war.

Half American is World War II history, as you've likely never read it before. In these pages are stories of Black military heroes and civil rights icons such as Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the leader of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen; Thurgood Marshall, the chief lawyer for the NAACP; poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a war correspondent for the Black press; Ella Baker, the civil rights leader who advocated on the home front for Black soldiers, veterans, and their families; and James G. Thompson, the twenty-six-year-old whose letter to a newspaper set in motion the Double Victory campaign. An essential and meticulously researched retelling of the war, Half American honors the men and women who dared to fight not just for democracy abroad but for their dreams of a freer and more equal America.

Matthew F. Delmont is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth College. A Guggenheim Fellow and expert on African American history and the history of civil rights, he is the author of four books: Black Quotidian, Why Busing Failed, Making Roots, and The Nicest Kids in Town. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and on NPR.

The ticket package for Literary in the Lounge: Matthew Delmont with HALF AMERICAN on Wednesday, February 28, at 7pm is $34. Ticket Package includes a signed book (HALF AMERICAN, $19, paperback), reserved seat, author discussion, Q+A, and post-show meet-and-greet. Tickets can be purchased online at TheMusicHall.org, over the phone at 603.436.2400, or in person at the B2W Box Office at the Historic Theater, 28 Chestnut Street. 

Akin to The Music Hall's anchor literary series, Writers on a New England Stage, Literary in the Lounge features bestselling authors in a more intimate space. The series brings audiences today's top authors, the best of fiction and nonfiction, and award-winners across categories, and is hosted in The Music Hall Lounge, formerly called the Loft, at 131 Congress St., in Portsmouth, NH.