DMA Arts & Letters Live w/ Donna Wilhelm & Peggy Wallace Kennedy

Thursday December 5, 7:30 p.m.

Peggy Wallace Kennedy & Donna Wilhelm

Peggy Wallace Kennedy was just a young girl in the summer of 1963 when her father stood in a schoolhouse door trying to block two African American students from entering the University of Alabama. Her memoir The Broken Road: George Wallace and a Daughter’s Journey to Reconciliation reflects on the politics of her youth and attempts to reconcile her adored father with his legacy of governing by fear and hate. At the end of his life, Wallace came to renounce his views, and his daughter had a political awakening, after which she dedicated much of her life to attempting to repair some of the damage he caused. Timely and timeless, The Broken Road speaks to change, atonement, activism, and racial reconciliation.

Arts advocate and philanthropist Donna Wilhelm grew up in an immigrant boarding house run by her Polish mother. A Life of My Own: A Memoir is an immersive story of her reinvention and transformation—from lonely child, to corporate wife and devoted mother, to fiber artist, jewelry designer, and middle-aged divorcée. With unbridled honesty, Wilhelm reveals her unique upbringing, diverse work history, and family challenges, and the journey of personal growth that allowed her to overcome the turmoil of her inner life. Her search for self-realization explores lies and deception about her origins, and a quest for truth and understanding that ultimately shapes her into a philanthropic thought leader with a clear sense of purpose and a humanitarian vision.

Thursday December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Horchow Auditorium
In conversation with Krys Boyd of KERA

Public: $30
Member/Educator: $25
Student: $15