Annette Gordon-Reed talks African-American history, presidential scandal
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Harvard University professor of law Annette Gordon-Reed will be coming to URI as the final guest speaker at the Center for Humanities lecture series. PHOTO CREDIT: macfound.org
Acclaimed writer and historian Annette Gordon-Reed will be visiting the University of Rhode Island on April 14 to give the final lecture for the 2021-2022 Center for Humanities lecture series.
Gordon-Reed, who recently released her new book “On Juneteenth,” rose to prominence in 1997 when she wrote the book “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings: An American Controversy,” which claimed that Jefferson had fathered children with Hemmings, his slave, before a DNA test confirmed it years later.
Erik Loomis, a member of the Center for Humanities board, said that they wanted to bring in a big name for the last lecture of the year.
“Some of us knew her and thought she was really great,” Loomis said. “It was a collective effort to bring in a top notch speaker to finish off what has been a really successful series for us.”
The series, which focuses on the ideas of race and remembering America’s complicated past, has discussed topics such as the legacy of slavery in Rhode Island and historical treatment of Native Americans.
According to Evelyn Sterne, Gordon-Reed’s new book is a combination of both memoir and historical non-fiction about growing up in Texas and how history has or hasn’t remembered events like Juneteenth, or the oppression of other groups such as Native Americans and Mexicans.
“A lot of history is about myth making,” Sterne said. “When you think about Texas, you think about the image of the Cowboy and the Indian and you forget the fact that the slave plantation owner was a central figure in Texas history.”
The book is very timely, as according to Loomis, Texas is one of the states currently banning books which they state are part of “Critical Race Theory” and claim they are trying to make white people feel bad about their history.
Juneteenth, which began in Texas, is the celebration of the Union army announcing the Emancipation Proclamation to slaves in Galveston, Texas, and officially freeing all slaves in formerly Confederate states. It was not a federal holiday, however, until 2021.
“Why did it take until 2021 for Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday?” Sterne said. “I think it is interesting to reflect on why that took so long.”
Loomis also mentioned that, in addition to things such as book banning across the country, the legacy of racism in the country is still very relevant, as shown with police brutality and nationwide protests held against it over the past few years.
Loomis said that teaching these things are important in order to get a full understanding of the country that we live in which transcends the myths of the country’s history.
“It is a complex country filled with complex people, and it has a complex history,” Loomis said. “If we want to create a more equal America we need to be honest with children about our past.”
Both Loomis and Sterne said that work done by historians like Gordon-Reed is very important to bringing this fuller picture to light, with both specifically mentioning Jefferson and how you can still acknowledge his importance, while also acknowledging his flaws and the bad things he did.
Annette Gordon-Reed will be speaking in Edwards Auditorium next Wednesday at 7p.m, in an event which will also be live streamed.