PROGRAM
Harold Holzer‘s Lincoln and the Power of the Press has been widely acclaimed as “a monumental, richly detailed portrait of the world of 19th-century journalism and Lincoln’s relation to it” (The New York Times Book Review). Join us at Roosevelt House to hear Holzer in conversation with Brent Staples, editorial writer for The New York Times, as they discuss a central but largely ignored dynamic of the Civil War era – how, as Holzer writes, “the leading figures in the intractably linked world of politics and the press waged a vigorous, often vicious, competition to determine which political belief system would emerge with more popular support and thus shape the national future.”
The Washington Post praised Lincoln and the Power of the Press as “three books in one: a political biography of Lincoln written by a scholar who is among the most prolific chroniclers of the 16th president, a superb and engaging portrayal of the American press during a crucial moment in its history and that of the nation, and a riveting account of the intersection between a man redefining the presidency and a press establishing its modern role.”
We look forward to welcoming you to Roosevelt House to participate in this discussion about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, and about the history of the relationship between the president and the press.
SPEAKERS
Harold Holzer
Harold Holzer is one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. A prolific writer and lecturer, and frequent guest on television, Holzer serves as chairman of The Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, successor organization to the U. S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC), to which he was appointed by President Clinton in 2000, and co-chaired from 2001–2010. President Bush, in turn, awarded Holzer the National Humanities Medal in 2008. And in 2013, he wrote an essay on Lincoln for the official program at the re-inauguration of President Barack Obama. He is serving currently as the first Roger Hertog Fellow at The New-York Historical Society.
Brent Staples
Journalist and author Brent Staples was born on September 13, 1951, in Chester, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Widener University in 1973 with a B.A. degree in behavioral science, and went on to receive a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago in 1982, the recipient of two doctoral fellowships; one from the Danforth Foundation and another from the Ford Foundation.
From 1977 until 1981, Staples taught psychology at various colleges in Pennsylvania and Chicago. In 1983, he was hired at the Chicago Sun-Times as a science writer. In 1985, Staples moved to The New York Times, where he was hired as an editor of The New York Times Book Review. Staples also frequently contributed to the Times Magazine and the Book Review. In 1986, he published the essay, “Just Walk on By” in Ms. magazine, a piece that would eventually be required reading for college courses throughout the country. Staples became an assistant editor for metropolitan news at The New York Times in 1987, and was appointed a member of The New York Times Editorial Board in 1990.
In 1994, Staples’ autobiography Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White, was published. Parallel Time was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1995, and was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In 2000, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount St. Mary College. In 2006, Staples was awarded a Fletcher Foundation Fellowship for his book-in-progress, Neither White Nor Black: The Secret History of Mixed-Race America. He has also served as a visiting fellow for multiple organizations including the Hoover Institution, the University of Chicago and Yale University.
