Elizabeth Clapp, one of England's leading scholars in the field of American women's history, will deliver a public lecture Wednesday, April 7 at 4 p.m. in Coastal Carolina University's Wall Auditorium.

Her lecture, "Mrs. Royall's Southern Tours," is about Anne Royall, a travel writer and journalist/editor who wrote from the 1820s to the 1850s. The event is free and open to the public.

Royall was one of the first women in this country to make her living as a writer. A friend and confidante of Andrew Jackson, she was an ardent supporter of Jacksonian democracy. She championed democratic ideals through her travels, her lectures and her publications.

According to Charles Joyner, Burroughs Professor of History at Coastal, "Dr. Clapp is renowned among scholars of American history in the U.K. and the U.S. for her lively and stimulating lectures and papers."

Clapp teaches courses at the University of Leicester on women in American society, early American history, and African American history. She earned a Ph.D. in modern history at the University of London. Her publications include her book, "Mothers of All Children: Women Reformers and the Rise of the Juvenile Courts in Progressive Era America," and numerous articles and essays.

Clapp's lecture is sponsored by the Waccamaw Center for Historical and Cultural Studies. For more information, contact the Office of Marketing Communications at 349-2087.