Inheriting the Trade was published January 9, 2008 by Beacon Press. The January publication date was selected in honor of the 200th anniversary of the effective date of the law which made slave trading in the United States a federal offense. The author began a book tour at that time.

The following events have already taken place, and are listed here for reference.

January 9, 7:00pm: Olsson’s Books & Records, The Lansburgh, 418 7th St., NW, Washington, D.C. Author reading, Q&A, and book signing. This is the launch event, on the first day of publication, for Inheriting the Trade. We chose this date and location to support the symposium to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade to be held the following day. Dr. Joseph Harris, Distinguished Professor of History, Howard University and one of the leaders of the symposium, will also speak. Co-sponsored by Project South.

January 10, 9:00am – 5:30pm: Author will attend Abolition and the Road to Freedom: 200th Anniversary of the Slave Trade Act of 1808, a Public Symposium at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Katrina Browne, producer/director of Traces of the Trade, will be part of the panel “Contemporary Implications of the Abolition of the Slave Trade,” which will examine the legacy of enslavement and abolition. The symposium is co-sponsored by the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian), Howard University, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

January 11: Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Author will appear along with Traces of the Trade producer/director Katrina Browne as part of Duke University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration series of events. 2:00pm, author reading, Q&A, book signing at Rare Book Room in Perkins Library. 7:00pm, screening of film clips from Traces of the Trade followed by discussion with Browne and DeWolf at Room 153 Rubenstein Hall in the Sanford Institute. Both events are free and open to the public.

January 13, 3:00pm: Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City. Author will attend, along with Katrina Browne, “Let My People Go: A Service of Liberation,” commemorating the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. As part of a multi-media display at 5:00pm, clips from the film will be shown. Author will sign “book plates” that can be affixed inside copies of Inheriting the Trade that attendees can purchase elsewhere (book will not be available for purchase at the service).

January 14, 7:30pm: Linden Place Museum, 500 Hope Street, Bristol, Rhode Island. Co-sponsored by Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

January 17-27: Author will attend the Sundance Film Festival, where Traces of the Trade, the filmed journey from which the story of Inheriting the Trade grew, will have its world premiere as an official selection for competition.

January 23, 4:00pm: The Spotted Frog Bookstore, 1635 W. Redstone Center Drive, Park City, Utah. Author reading, Q&A/panel discussion with members of the Family of Ten attending Sundance, book signing, followed by small reception (with hors d’oeuvres sponsored by Beacon Press).

January 31, 7:30pm: The Tattered Cover Book Store, the historic LoDo store, 1628 16th Street at Wynkoop, Denver, Colorado. Author reading, Q&A, book signing. Special musical opening to this evening’s event will be provided by the Spirituals Project Choir.

February 3, 3:00pm: The Book Barn, 135 NW Minnesota; Bend, Oregon 97701. Author reading, Q&A, and book signing.

February 5, 6:00pm: Paulina Springs Books Sisters, 252 West Hood Avenue, Sisters, Oregon 97759. Author reading, Q&A, and book signing.

February 7, 6:00pm: The Curiosity Shoppe, 550 SW Industrial Way #45; Bend, Oregon 97702. With the Curiosity Shoppe’s focus on metaphysics, personal development, and spiritual awareness, and not being a traditional bookstore, the author will focus the discussion at this venue on the spiritual aspects of the journey through Traces of the Trade, which will include author reading, Q&A, and book signing.

February 8, 6:00pm: Paulina Springs Books Redmond, 422 SW 6th Street; Redmond, Oregon 97756. Author reading, Q&A, and book signing.

February 12, 7:30pm: Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 South Main Street, Seattle, Washington. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

February 14, 7:30pm: Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland, Oregon. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

February 20, 7:00pm: California State University at Monterey Bay, World Theater, Sixth Avenue. Author will give a talk as part of the President’s Speakers Series. Reservations encouraged (starting Jan. 21).

February 23, 10:00am: First Christian Church, 1751 N. Park Ave. Pomona, California. Author will appear in the Fellowship Hall of the church he grew up in, where his parents were married in 1951 and still attend today. Clips from the film Traces of the Trade will be shown along with author reading, Q&A, book signing.

April 2-5: White Privilege Conference, Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, Springfield, Massachusetts. Author will attend, along with other Traces family members, this 9th annual conference. Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North will be screened during the conference and author will participate in “Meet the Speakers Mixer and Book Signing.”

April 6, 3:00pm:The Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, 396 County Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

April 6, 7:00pm: Four Corners Art Center, The Meeting House, 3850 Main Rd, Tiverton, Rhode Island. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

April 7, 6:00pm: A Novel Idea bookstore, 450 Hope St; Bristol, Rhode Island. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

April 8, 1:00pm: “Institute for Learning in Retirement” class, Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut.

April 14, 7:00pm: The Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Author reading, discussion, book signing.

April 24, 6:30pm: The Legacy of 1808, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street, Independence Mall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two screenings (6:30 & 8:30) of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North, Q&A with Katrina Browne and Tom DeWolf, book signing to follow each screening. Fun note: this event was originally scheduled for April 16. We were “bumped” by two people named Hillary and Barack who decided to debate on the 16th in advance of the Pennsylvania primary on April 22. Katrina and I graciously deferred… ;o)

April 29, 7:00-9:00am: CBS's The Early Show. Tom DeWolf and Katrina Browne are scheduled to be interviewed live on this national television news program from the CBS studios in New York City. The caveat, of course, is that this is a news program. A breaking news story that morning could result in us being bumped. We’re hoping for a “slow news day” so we’ll be able to participate in this incredible opportunity to reach a national audience about Inheriting the Trade and Traces of the Trade. Though we won’t know the exact time of our interview—and whether this will indeed happen—until we are live on the set with Harry Smith, the book-related interviews have typically been broadcast during the last half hour of The Early Show.

UPDATE: The CBS interview was indeed "bumped" by breaking news of a series of tornadoes in Virginia. The interview would have been preempted on the West Coast due to President Bush's press conference. The interview was taped and we were told it will run at some point in the near future. We'll make note of it here when we have a date.

May 2-3: Episcopal Diocese of Maryland annual convention, Baltimore Convention Center. Author will be available to meet with attendees both days of the convention, courtesy of St. Bede’s Books and the Reparations Committee of the Maryland Diocese. Tom has also been asked to briefly address the convention on Saturday morning about his family’s journey in making Traces of the Trade during a discussion of reparations as regards the Church.

May 6, 6:30pm: Council on Foundations Philanthropy Summit, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland. Off site, at the newly opened Newseum in Washington, DC, a reception and screening of Traces of the Trade, followed by a dialogue on race and class that will include Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, NewsHour journalist Judy Woodruff and Ambassador James Joseph, Professor of Public Policy Studies & Executive Director, Southern Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values at Duke University.

May 7, 10:00am: Council on Foundations Philanthropy Summit, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland. “Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media: Race, Class and Privilege: An On-going Dialogue” Panel discussion with filmmaker Katrina Brown, author Thomas DeWolf, and Political Science Professor Franklin Gilliam on race, class and privilege in America and how we might talk about these subjects in an honest and open way.

May 7, 11:30am: Council on Foundations Philanthropy Summit, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland. Book signing following the panel discussion will take place at the Resource Central area at the Gaylord.

May 10, 6:00pm: Davies Forum, Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, 7400 Temple Hill Rd., Camp Springs, Maryland. Author reading, Q&A, book signing.

May 17, 5:00pm: Sunriver Books & Music, Sunriver Village Building 25C, Sunriver, Oregon. Author reading, Q&A, book signing. This appearance is sponsored by Caldera Springs Resort. Sunriver Books & Music has also named Inheriting the Trade its Non-Fiction Book Club Selection for June. Two weeks after the author reading on May 17, the book club will meet to discuss Inheriting the Trade June 2, 6:30pm.

June 3-8: Newport International Film Festival. Traces of the Trade is one of the featured documentaries in the 2008 NIFF.

June 4, 11:00am: Historic Redwood Library, 50 Bellevue Ave, Newport, Rhode Island. In partnership with the Newport International Film Festival, Tom DeWolf will appear at the Redwood Library for a reading, Q&A, and book signing. In partnership with the Newport International Film Festival.

June 4, 3:00pm: Screening of Traces of the Trade at Opera House 1 (Newport International Film Festival).

June 5, 8:00pm: Screening of Traces of the Trade at Jane Pickens Theatre (Newport International Film Festival).

June 6, 4:00pm: Tom DeWolf will attend panel discussion, “Slavery and the Slave Trade in Newport” at the Colony House (Washington Square, Newport, R.I.); sponsored by the Newport Historical Society and part of the Newport International Film Festival. Panelists include Traces family member James DeWolf Perry, Brown University history professor Jim Campbell, and Newport Chamber of Commerce Director and historic preservation expert Keith Stokes. Open to public and free of charge.

June 7, 1:00pm: Screening of Traces of the Trade at Opera House 1 (Newport International Film Festival).

June 9-13: Tom DeWolf will attend a weeklong course titled Coming to the Table as part of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.