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| Professor David Brion
Davis |
On June 7, David Brion Davis, Sterling Professor of
History Emeritus at Yale University, gave a lecture
sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History at The Morgan Library and Museum in New York
City. He spoke about his most recent book, Inhuman
Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World.
The book explores the story of slavery and abolition
across the western world – from the United States
to Brazil to the Caribbean.
Davis remarked: “The crucial and final point
I want to make is that a frank and honest effort to
face up to the darkest side of our past, to understand
the ways in which social evils evolve, should in no
way lead to cynicism and despair, or to a repudiation
of our heritage. The development of maturity means a
capacity to deal with truth. And the more we recognize
the limitations and failings of human beings, the more
remarkable and even encouraging history can be.”
There is a long history between Davis and the Gilder
Lehrman Institute. In July 1994, he taught the Institute’s
first teacher seminar. Held at Yale, the two-week seminar,
The Origins and Nature of New World Slavery,
brought together twenty-nine educators from New York
and New Jersey. He went on to teach the seminar in 1995,
1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
“David was there at the beginning of the Gilder
Lehrman Institute,” said Lesley Herrmann, the
institute’s Executive Director. “He electrified
the teachers who attended our seminar up at Yale and
we haven’t looked back. Today, more than 6,000
teachers, museum educators, and National Park Service
employees have participated in Gilder Lehrman teacher
seminars across the United States and England.”
“It is truly amazing to consider how the Gilder
Lehrman Institute has expanded since 1994 and how much
it has enriched the teaching of American history on
a national level,” said Davis.
Davis is also the Director Emeritus of the Gilder Lehrman
Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
at Yale. Among his many books are The Problem of
Slavery in Western Culture, The Problem of
Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823, Slavery
and Human Progress, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty
(with Steven Mintz), In the Image of God: Religion,
Moral Values, and Our Heritage of Slavery, and
most recently, Challenging the Boundaries of Slavery.
His honors include the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft
Prize, the National Book Award, the Albert J. Beveridge
Award, and the Bruce Catton Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
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This lecture was recorded for future broadcast on C-SPAN
2’s BookTV.
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www.gilderlehrman.org
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