The 1374th meeting of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences was held on January 17, 2007 in Connecticut Hall at Southern Connecticut State University. Some 25 members and their guest enjoyed cocktails before the evening's presentation. The President, Ernest Kohorn, welcomed the audience and thanked Professor Harvey Feinberg for hosting the meeting. He also thanked the Provost of the University, Dr. Silase Williams for financially supporting the attendance of several students to enjoy dinner and discussion after the lecture.

Professor Harvey Feinberg introduced the speakers, Alan Friedlander and Richard Gerber both Professors of History at Southern Connecticut State University. The title of their talk was "The Civil Rights Act of 1875: A Reexamination".

Professor Gerber spoke first. He challenged the prevailing interpretations of Reconstruction as failing to provide civil rights for freed people beyond the basic guarantees of civil and political equality. He maintained that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 banned racial discrimination in public accommodations (restaurants, public carriers, places of amusement). Although it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883, he contended that the law must nonetheless stand as a hallmark event in Reconstruction history. He further maintained that his and Dr Friedlander's research similarly confront conventional interpretations that portray the 1875 Act variously as a "dead letter," a reluctant last-ditch political maneuver, even a symbolic tribute to its dying sponsor.

Dr Friedlander then presented material from congressional debates, national and local newspapers, unpublished manuscripts and state-by state election analysis which indicated that the congressional Republicans who passed the Act in 1875 indeed acted on their continuing principles of racial equity. Many would lose their seats in the Congress because of their support for the law. He contended that their ideas and indeed their courage deserve a renewed historical hearing.

Dr Gerber concluded the presentation by saying that not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would racial equality in public accommodations once again become law. He suggested that an analysis of the arguments in Congress regarding the 1964 Act revealed remarkable similarities with those of 1875.