WHO: The voices of Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Medgar and Charles Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and more.  Plus a panel of academics discussing "Who Speaks for the Negro," the 1965 book for which the interviews were conducted.   

WHAT: "When Civil Rights Was Only a Dream" a roundtable discussion of Robert Penn Warren's taped interviews for his book "Who Speaks for the Negro?"

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Kelly Writers House

3805 Locust Walk

University of Pennsylvania

Nearly lost forever, these never-before-heard-in-Philadelphia compact discs will allow listeners to hear the voices of leaders of the civil rights movement as they sat down with author Robert Penn Warren to contribute to his book "Who Speaks for the Negro?"

The CD's are the only known copy of the original tapes, which if not for the efforts of Penn graduate student Kristina Baumli and librarian Ancil George might have gone unheard.

Baumli, who is writing her Ph.D. dissertation about Warren's book, suspected the tapes were at Yale library even though the library at first seemed to not know of their existence.   

Thanks to Baumli persistence, the tapes were found four years ago in a shoebox among the papers Warren had given to the library.

"We finally got the CD's two weeks ago, and we've liberated them for the scholarly world," Baumli said.

Panelist at the discussion will include Baumli; George; Paul Hendrickson, Penn English senior lecturer and author of "Sons of Mississippi," Sheldon Hackney, Penn history professor; and Herman Beavers, Penn English professor.