Renowned historian to speak on Lincoln and slavery for Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series.

Monday, October 2, 2017
photo of Eric Foner

Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. Photo by Daniella Zalcman.

Eric Foner, renowned historian, will speak as part of the Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency at the University of New Hampshire Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, at 7 p.m. in the Huddleston Hall Ballroom. His talk is titled The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and Slavery. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required.

Foner is one of America's most prominent historians, writing and speaking widely on the intersections of intellectual, political and social history, and the history of American race relations. He is the author of over 20 books, including "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery," which won the Bancroft Prize, the Pulitzer Prize for History and The Lincoln Prize, among other awards. His 1988 book, "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877," won the Bancroft Prize, the Parkman Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, among others.

Foner is DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, where he also earned his doctoral degree under the supervision of Richard Hofstadter. He is one of only two persons to serve as president of the three major professional organizations: the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association and Society of American Historians, and one of a handful to have won the Bancroft and Pulitzer Prizes in the same year.

Foner's works have been highly praised in scholarly journals and by reviews in periodicals across the political spectrum. In The Nation, Theodore Rosengarten wrote that “Reconstruction” is "monumental in scope ... a feat of research and synthesis that is not likely to be repeated for a generation." The introduction to a recent collection of essays on the Civil War era refers to “Reconstruction” as "one of the masterworks of the historical profession." Of “The Fiery Trial,” Gordon Berg observed in Civil War Times, "looking for flaws in an Eric Foner book is like looking for flaws in the Hope Diamond; it is a fool's errand."

Housed in the College of Liberal Arts at UNH, the Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency is generously supported by J. Morgan '84 and Tara Rutman. The series focuses on American political history with an emphasis on the modern and historical context of the American presidency. The 2017 Rutman Lecture is part of Celebrate 150: The Campaign for UNH, celebrating 150 years of success at UNH and setting a bold course for the next 150 years.  

For more information and to register, visit cola.unh.edu/eric-foner.