Talk with Bryant Simon, Temple University, Philadelphia. In this talk, based on his most recent book, The Hamlet Fire, Bryant Simon will examine the causes and consequences of a long-forgotten and deadly factory fire: The company paid its workers a dollar above the minimum wage to stand in pools of freezing water for hours on end, scraping gobs of fat off frozen chicken breasts before they got dipped in batter and fried into golden brown nuggets and tenders. On the morning of September 3, 1991, this factory that had never been inspected burst into lames. Twenty-five people - many of whom were black women, perished behind the plant’s locked and bolted doors. Simon shows how cheap labor and cheap food have become the new American norm in the 1970s and how they remain the dominant national ethos today.
Bryant Simon is professor of history at Temple University, Philadelphia. His research focuses on food and society.
• In English
• Location: Hörsaal 037, Brechtbau, Wilhelmstr. 50, Tübingen
• Admission: free
• In cooperation with the Department of American Studies, University of Tübingen
