Hoosier Hysteria: A Fateful Year in the Crosshairs of Race in America

By: Meri Henriques Vahl

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Synopsis: Indiana University, September 1963. Meri Henriques, a naïve freshman from New York, arrives on campus thinking she&’s about to enroll at an idyllic Midwestern college. Instead, she discovers a storm is brewing. An intriguing cast of characters inhabits Meri&’s new and often troubled world: Katherine &“Pixie&” Gates, Meri&’s charming and quirky roommate; Rachel, brilliant and sarcastic fellow New Yorker; Daniel, a tough radical with a tender heart; folk singer Derek Stone, Meri&’s crush; and Shennandoah Waters, a white coed who only dates black men or exotic foreigners, much to her ultra-conservative parents&’ horror. Over the course of Meri&’s first year at college, tragedy strikes twice: John Kennedy is assassinated, and a young, black IU basketball player is castrated and thrown into a ditch—murdered for dating a white coed. And finally, that year&’s commencement ceremonies bring an infamous symbol of white supremacy to campus, endangering anyone who dared to protest—thrusting Meri into the middle of violent and escalating racial tensions. Vivid and compelling, Hoosier Hysteria is a timely story of prejudice and political unrest that, today more than ever before, must be told.