Ezra Greenspan, whose multigenerational family biography “Frederick Douglass’ People: A Family Biography,” is underway during his fellowship at Washington College, will discuss the project in an event on October 15, 2019.
The free, public talk at 5:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, is sponsored by the Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience.
In his illustrated talk, Greenspan will discuss his career in the humanities as a student, professor, and writer. He’ll also talk about “Frederick Douglass’ People: A Family Biography,” as an integrated exploration of the lives of one of this country’s greatest African American families, the Baileys of Talbot County, Maryland. It tracks Douglass and the many family members left behind in slavery on the Eastern Shore across the great historic arc of slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow.
Greenspan is a literary and cultural historian who studies and teaches the history of written communications and media. The former chair of the English Department at Southern Methodist University, he founded its Ph.D. program and is an active proponent of its transition into the age of digital culture. His research and teaching interests span the history of writing, printing, and publishing, as well as the interplay between letters and visual images, and the historic uses of written communications, especially by ethnic groups such as African Americans and Jews.
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About the Patrick Henry Fellowship
Launched by the Starr Center in 2008, the Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship aims to encourage reflection on the links between American history and contemporary culture, and to foster the literary art of historical writing. It is co-sponsored by the Rose O’Neill Literary House, Washington College’s center for literature and the literary arts. The Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship’s funding is permanently endowed by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, with further support provided by the Starr Foundation, The Hodson Trust, and other donors.
About the Starr Center
Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience explores the American experience in all its diversity and complexity, seeks creative approaches to illuminating the past, and inspires thoughtful conversation informed by history. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.
About Washington College
Founded in 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest college in the nation and the first chartered under the new Republic. It enrolls approximately 1,450 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations. With an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning in the arts and sciences, and more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study, the College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing. Learn more at washcoll.edu.