Dr. Rachael Price will discuss the legacy of a forgotten “power couple” on Oct. 5 as part of the Jess Usher Lecture Series at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

“Henry and Katherine Bellamann were a force to be reckoned with in 1930s and 1940s Manhattan,” said Price, an associate professor in ABAC’s School of Arts and Sciences. “While Henry was best known as the author of Kings Row (a novel that was made even more famous with the release of a 1942 film version starring Ronald Reagan), both Henry and Katherine were prolific writers and musicians, and their Upper West Side apartment, with two grand pianos in the living room, was an epicenter of arts and culture.”

ABAC’s Horseman Press recently re-published Henry’s first novel, Petenera’s Daughter, and copies will be on sale at the event, along with copies of Kings Row.

Price began her ABAC career in 2016. She received her BA in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo, her MA from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and her PhD in English from the University of Arkansas.

Other series events include a talk titled “It Takes A Village to Provide Quality Food for Our Pets” by Diantha Ellis on Oct. 30; John Cable’s lecture “Throwing People Away: The Enclosure Movement in Mississippi” on Feb. 27, 2024; and “How Ideas Have Sex: An Account of Human Communication” by Jay Baldwin on April 1.

The lecture is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Each Usher Lecture Series event is free and open to the public.

The Jess Usher Lecture Series features a carefully curated slate of dynamic presentations, drawn from a wide range of disciplines and delivered by distinguished members of the ABAC faculty as well as distinguished guest lecturers. Formerly known as the ABAC Lecture Series, this special collection has been renamed in memory of Dr. Jess Usher, a beloved ABAC professor and former lecturer in the series, who passed away in June 2021.