CINCINNATI, OH – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will host Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University Eric Foner on December 1 at 6:00 p.m., where he will discuss his latest work, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. Foner’s lecture is the second lecture in the John and Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series—a series connecting the public with award-winning authors, historians and thought-leaders, discussing themes on history, race, culture and modern abolition. Tickets are $5.00 and available for purchase online at freedomcenter.org and at the door. A welcome reception is scheduled from 6-7:00 p.m. Foner’s lecture will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Building on fresh evidence, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad elevates the underground railroad from folklore to sweeping history. Foner’s work is inspiring―full of memorable characters making their first appearance on the historical stage―and significant―the controversy over fugitive slaves inflamed the sectional crisis of the 1850s. It eventually took a civil war to destroy American slavery, but here at last is the story of the courageous effort to fight slavery by “practical abolition,” person by person, family by family.
The lecture series is presented in part by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and sponsored by John and Francie Pepper. “Eric Foner is inarguably one of our nation’s most prominent historians,” says Dr. Michael Battle, executive vice president and provost. “We encourage the community to join us for what promises to be an evening of insight on a topic where the line between fact and folklore are often blurred—the Underground Railroad.”
In addition to Eric Foner’s lecture on December 1, the public will have the opportunity to hear from Associate Professor of English and American Studies at Trinity College, Christopher Hagar on January 13, 2016, and novelist and essayist, Marilynne Robinson on March 16, 2016.
The John and Francie Pepper Freedom Lecture Series with Eric Foner at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center begins at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1. The lecture is open to the public. Tickets are $5.00 and are available for purchase online at freedomcenter.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the door. For more information, visit freedomcenter.org