Editorial Staff

Yale’s Pulitzer-Winning Prof. David Blight on Frederick Douglass, Slavery, & Emancipation

/in , , , , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara Candal and guest co-host Derrell Bradford talk with David Blight, Sterling Professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. He shares what drew him as a teenager in Flint, Michigan to the study of America’s past, and to Douglass in particular. He explains the role of Walter O. Evans, to whom he dedicated the book. They explore how the former slave Douglass became America’s foremost abolitionist statesman, and his morally powerful rhetoric, including his famous 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” They also cover his involvement in the 19th-century women’s rights movement, his marriages and family, and his later life at his home in D.C., as an elder statesman writing and shaping his enduring legacy. Professor Blight concludes with a reading from his Douglass biography.

Stories of the Week: New York City will require that all public school faculty, principals, and staff receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A Colorado school district is using innovative approaches, including billboard advertising, to address declining enrollment as a result of the pandemic.

Guest:

David Blight is Sterling Professor of American History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era; and Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; and annotated editions of Frederick Douglass’s first two autobiographies. He has worked on Douglass much of his professional life, and been awarded the Bancroft Prize, the Abraham Lincoln Prize, and the Frederick Douglass Prize, among others. His 2018 definitive biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, won the Pulitzer Prize for History, as well as the Lincoln, Bancroft, and Parkman prizes, and other awards. In 2021, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, September 1st, 2021 at 12 pm ET with guest, Nancy Poon Lue, the Chief Operating Officer for the EF+Math Program, based in Oakland, California.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

New York Times: Covid-19 Updates: F.D.A.’s Vaccine Approval Leads Pentagon and Others to Add Requirements

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/nyregion/nyc-schools-employee-vaccine-mandate.html

Chalkbeat: Adams 14, facing another year of declining enrollment, looks to attract students with billboards

https://co.chalkbeat.org/2021/8/19/22631500/adams-14-schools-enrollment-billboards-attract-students

Get new episodes of The Learning Curve in your inbox!

Recent episodes:

CUNY’s Carl Rollyson on William Faulkner & Southern Literature

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Carl Rollyson, CUNY professor, and acclaimed biographer of William Faulkner. Prof. Rollyson offers an in-depth exploration of Faulkner’s life, work, and enduring legacy.

NH Gov. Chris Sununu on School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu. Gov. Sununu discusses his upbringing in a well-known political family and how the influence of his father, a former governor and White House chief of staff, and his brother, a former U.S. senator, has shaped his public service.

Dr. Helen Baxendale on Great Hearts Classical Liberal Arts Charter Schools

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Helen Baxendale, the chief of staff and vice president of strategy at Great Hearts Academies. Dr. Baxendale discusses how her global educational experiences inform her perspective on K-12 policy and Great Hearts’ mission to integrate the humanities, math, and science for intellectual and character development.

Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & Halloween

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview Jeffrey Meyers, acclaimed literary biographer, about his comprehensive exploration of Edgar Allan Poe’s life and work.

U-TX at SA’s Catherine Clinton on Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview Catherine Clinton, Denman Professor of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. Prof. Clinton discusses her definitive biography of Harriet Tubman, the renowned abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor.

Award-Winner Tom Segev on Israel’s Founding Father, David Ben-Gurion

Dr. Segev delves into the life and legacy of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father. He shares insights into Ben-Gurion’s early years in Poland, his involvement in Zionist politics, and immigration to Palestine in 1906, which set the stage for his leadership during pivotal moments in history. Segev covers Ben-Gurion's rise to prominence, his role in forming the Zionist Labor Federation, and the strategies he employed during the 1936-39 Arab revolt. Additionally, Segev examines Ben-Gurion's historic leadership in declaring Israel's independence in 1948, the unification of Jewish militias into the Israeli Defense Forces, and the implications of the Arab-Israeli War.

Lynch Foundation’s Katie Everett on School Finance Model for Catholic Schools & School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Mike Goldstein interview Katie Everett, the Executive Director of the Lynch Foundation. Ms. Everett shares her journey into K-12 education reform and discusses the influential vision of Carolyn and Peter Lynch, and their foundation's role in shaping education policy in Massachusetts and beyond.

MA Teacher James Conway & High School Grad Ela Gardiner on MCAS Testing

The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Meredith Coolidge of DFER - MA interview James Conway, a World History and Psychology teacher at Revere High School, and Ela Gardiner, a freshman at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Wellesley High School alumna.

Edward Achorn on Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, & Slavery

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Charlie Chieppo and Ret. MN Justice Barry Anderson interview Edward Achorn, a noted writer, historian, and author of "Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln" and "The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History". Achorn shares insights into Lincoln's improbable political rise and the critical events leading to his 1860 Republican presidential nomination, including his strategic maneuvering following his defeat in the 1858 Illinois Senate race.

PRI’s Lance Izumi on The Great Classroom Collapse

Lance Izumi delves into his latest book, "The Great Classroom Collapse: Teachers, Students, and Parents Expose the Collapse of Learning in America's Schools". He discusses why, despite decades of education reforms and vast spending, many American students remain underprepared in critical subjects like reading and math.