On Oct. 28, the Wofford College Department of History hosted Eddie S. Glaude Jr. in Leonard Auditorium, where Glaude offered a lecture on James Baldwin and African-American history to Wofford students and the general public. The Wofford College Department of History, the Lewis P. Jones Visiting Professor in History Fund and the Office of the President were all sponsors of the event.
Glaude is a New York Times bestselling author, political pundit and Princeton University professor who has appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on multiple occasions, contributes to MSNBC programs and publishes a TIME Magazine column.
He grew up in Moss Point, Mississippi, and, at the age of 16, he enrolled in Morehouse College, where he now serves on the board of trustees. He graduated from Temple University with a master’s degree in African American studies and Princeton University with a Ph.D. in religion.
In regards to Glaude’s lecture, the general public’s response, according to Professor Mark Byrnes, associate professor of history and history department chair, was overwhelmingly positive. He recalled the college’s advertisements for the event receiving a lot of attention on social media and that he had a lot of people phoning him for more information.
According to Byrnes, the crowd in Leonard appeared to be made up of a huge number of community members.
“I think the most important thing to take away from his talk is the central value of telling ourselves the truth about our history,” said Byrnes. “As (Dr. Glaude) says in his book, there needs to be a national reckoning. Americans have long been predisposed to look to the future and discount the importance of the past.”
A small group of students were given the opportunity to meet and interact with Dr. Glaude earlier that afternoon in McMillan Theatre at the Mungo Student Center, and the students responded favorably.
“The students who attended the afternoon event seemed to get a lot out of it,” said Byrnes. “The fact that they stayed over the allotted time, and then quite a few stayed after the event ended to talk to Dr. Glaude, tells me how great an impact he had on those who heard him.”
Dr. Glaude expressed his gratitude for the opportunities to speak with people from many universities and the value it adds to his job.
“It’s this amazing encounter with human beings from across the country, struggling together to try to figure out how we’re going to do this thing together,” Glaude continued on the subject of addressing America’s dark racial history.
Dr. Glaude was the second of six speakers to come to Wofford’s campus for the History Department’s series of conversations on African-American history.
Dr. Sylvanie Diouf, visiting scholar at Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice, gave a session titled “Out of Slavery and into the Wild: Maroons in the United States” to launch the department’s series.
“Autobiographies of Grief: Black Women in the Civil War” will be presented by Dr. Thavolia Glymph, Duke University’s Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History, at 4 p.m. on Nov. 16 in Olin Theater.
During the Spring 2022 semester, three more speakers will come to campus to address this topic.
