The Gish Film Theater, located in Hanna Hall, will feature a lecture by Anthony Slide about famed southern writer Thomas Dixon.

Thomas Dixon lived from 1864 to 1946 and grew up in the South. He was a lawyer, state legislator, preacher, novelist, playwright, actor, lecturer, real estate speculator, and movie producer.

He argued three major themes: the need for racial purity, the sanctity of the family centered on a traditional housewife and mother, and the evil of socialism. Although he didn’t believe in slavery or the Klan, he did believe that African Americans must be denied political equality or else family and civil society will eventually dissolve.

He also wrote novels attacking women’s suffrage because women outside the home became corrupted, which he argued caused social morality to be lost.

Slide will feature his new book, “American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon.”

He will discuss Dixon’s many films and will play the last he ever worked on, “Nation Aflame.” Slide will examine how Dixon used the movies to advance his views on socialism, communism, feminism, and race.

The event at the Gish Theater is free for all to attend and begins at 3 pm.