Politics and Prose
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Book Talk: Marion Orr — House of Diggs- with Congressman G.K. Butterfield
Posted
October 24, 2025
Views
380
Likes
5
Engagement
1.32%
October 24, 2025
380
5
1.32%
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1:02:51Now PlayingWatch author Marion Orr's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.
At the height of the civil rights movement, Charles C. Diggs Jr. (1922-1998) was the consummate power broker. In a political career spanning 1951 to 1980, Diggs, Michigan's first Black member of Congress, was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till's killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the Congressional Black Caucus. He was also the chief architect of legislation that restored home rule to Washington, DC, and almost single-handedly ignited the American anti-apartheid movement in the 1960s. Drawing on extensive archival research, including Diggs's rarely seen personal papers, FBI documents, and original interviews with family members and political associates, political scientist Marion Orr reveals that Diggs practiced a politics of strategic moderation. Orr argues that this quiet approach was more effective than the militant race politics practiced by Adam Clayton Powell and more appealing than the conservative Chicago-style approach of William Dawson--two of Diggs's better-known Black contemporaries.
Marion Orr is the Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and professor of political science and urban studies at Brown University.
Orr is in conversation with Congressman G.K. Butterfield, a retired U.S. Congressman who represented North Carolina’s 1st District for 18 years. A former civil rights attorney, Butterfield was also Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a key early supporter of President Barack Obama. He now serves as a Senior Advisor with McGuireWoods Consulting in Washington, DC.
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