Alexander McAllister Rivera Jr. was a prolific photojournalist and a foremost public relations specialist. Well-known for his long association with North Carolina Central University, his livelihood and professional career extended well beyond Durham, North Carolina. Rivera Jr. not only created a body of work that preserved critical aspects of African American and American history on the local, state, national, and international levels, he also personified the philosophies of confidentiality and anonymity essential in the field of public relations to maneuver and operate in the complex environment of national and state politics.

The book talk traces Rivera Jr.’s family line to some of Wilmington, North Carolina’s most historical institutions, individuals, and historical events, including the Wilmington Colored Educational Institute, St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church, Wilmington 1898, Alexander Manly, and Judge John J. Parker.

This talk is presented by Dr. Glen Harris, UNCW Department of History. Glen Anthony Harris received his Ph.D. from Florida State University and his MA and BA degrees from North Carolina Central University. He has taught at North Carolina Central University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Florida A&M University before joining UNCW's history department in 2002.

Dr. Harris is the author of Social Justice and Liberation Struggles: The Photojournalistic and Public Relations Career of Alexander McAllister Rivera Jr. (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793653680/Social-Justice-and-Liberation-Struggles-The-Photojournalistic-and-Public-Relations-Career-of-Alexander-McAllister-Rivera-Jr) and The Ocean Hill-Brownsville Conflict: Intellectual Struggles Between Blacks and Jews at Mid-Century (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739166833/The-Ocean-Hill-Brownsville-Conflict-Intellectual-Struggles-between-Blacks-and-Jews-at-Mid-Century).