Williamstown – Dorothy Roberts, the Kirkland and Ellis Professor at Northwestern University Law School will present the Annual Allison Davis Lecture at Williams College on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m. The lecture will be held in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams campus.
Roberts believes that reproduction, "more than anything else, it tells you how a society values people." Extending beyond abortion and Roe v. Wade into areas of race and economics, Roberts has widened the dialogue on reproductive rights. By exploring the irregularities in state intervention and childcare, racial disparities in birth control and fertility, and sterilization, Roberts challenges critics and proponents of reproductive rights to broaden their perspective. Discussing recent fertility advances, Roberts sees that "the multiple births that result from these technologies point to the contradiction of a public not willing to pay the expenses of one additional child born to a welfare mother, yet willing to support seven children born to a white couple."
An accomplished professor, author, and lecturer, Roberts has done extensive work with and research into the interplay of gender, race and class in legal issues concerning reproduction and motherhood. She has published widely.
Her most recent book, "Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare," (Basic Books, 2002) explores the issue of racial bias in child welfare. Drawing on a disproportionately high representation of black children in the foster care system, Roberts identifies a trend of higher state intervention in predominately black neighborhoods, and sees negative stereotypes about black parental unfitness as leading to excessive state interference in black families. Her previous book, "Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty" (Pantheon, 1997), received the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America.
Roberts has served as a professor of law at Rutgers University, a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University, and a fellow at Harvard University's Program in Ethics and the Professions before joining the Northwestern faculty.
She serves as a consultant to the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., and the Open Society Institute's Program on Reproductive health and Rights, and as a member of the board of directors of the Public Interest Law Center of New Jersey, the National Black Women's Health Project, and the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.
Roberts received her B.A. from Yale University in 1977 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1980. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1981. In 2002-03, Roberts was a Fulbright Scholar at the Centre for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies, Trinidad-Tobago, where she conducted research on family planning policy and on gender, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.
The Allison Davis Lecture series was established to honor Allison Davis, Valedictorian of the Class of 1924, and one of the pioneers in the social and anthropological study of class structure in the South. While teaching English to black children in rural Virginia after graduating from Williams, Davis found that "the American social class system actually prevents the vast majority of children of the working classes, or of the slums, from learning any culture but that of their own groups." Attending graduate studies at Harvard in the 1930s, and eventually going onto teach at the University of Chicago, Davis sought to make "a direct effect on society from social science research."
The lecture series brings to campus prominent individuals to address issues of race, class, and education in the United States. Recent Allison Davis lectures have featured educator Johnetta Cole, writer and legal scholar Patricia Williams, and author, editor, and essayist Richard Rodriguez.
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Dalton Day Returns This Saturday
By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town's popular Dalton Day festival is returning this weekend after a year's hiatus.
The event will kick off this Saturday at 11 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. in the field in front of the Senior Center.
The community celebration was established in 2023 by the Cultural Council in an effort to increase resident participation at town meetings while also showcasing the area's welcoming, diverse, artistic and sporty atmosphere. In 2024, the event brought together 300 residents.
"The primary mission of Dalton Day is to foster a strong sense of community, build civic pride, and bring residents together through a shared celebration of local culture, music, and food," said Jeannie Ingram, Select Board member and cultural council chair, and Lori Venezia, executive assistant to the town manager.
The event provides an accessible and free platform for "civic education, community bonding, and supporting local businesses, artisans, makers, and culture more broadly," they said.
The festival strengthens the fabric of the town both civically and economically by connecting grassroots organizations with residents, fostering a shared sense of belonging, and providing free, family-friendly entertainment.
It also serves as an opportunity for community members to meet with local officials and a couple of state officials. State Sen. Paul Mark and state Rep. Leigh Davis will be coming from Beacon Hill to speak at the event.
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