Pulitzer Prize Winning Historian Lectures on the Civil War, Reconstruction at MCCC March 7
2/22/19
WEST WINDSOR – A Pulitzer Prize winning historian will take a look at how the American Civil War permanently transformed the nation and the laws we live under during a lecture at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) March 7.
“The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution” will be the subject of a lecture by Dr. Eric Foner at noon on Thursday, March 7 in the Communications Building, Room 107. His talk is part of MCCC’s spring 2019 Distinguished Lecture Series at the West Windsor Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Foner will explain how the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction era transformed American society, including three amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He will explore how and why these amendments were adopted, the debates over their meaning as different groups tried to use them for their own purposes, and how the U.S. Supreme Court in the late 19th century severely weakened them, with consequences we still live with today.
Foner is a DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, specializing in the Civil War and reconstruction, slavery, and 19th century America. He is one of only two persons to serve as president of the Organization of American Historians, American Historical Association, and Society of American Historians. He has also been the curator of several museum exhibitions, including the prize-winning “A House Divided: America in the Age of Lincoln” at the Chicago Historical Society. His book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Society, won the Pulitzer, Bancroft, and Lincoln Prizes in 2011.
Foner received a B.A. from Columbia University, a B.A. first class from Oriel College Oxford University, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
For more information on MCCC’s Distinguished Lecture Series, call (609) 570-3324 or visit www.mccc.edu/lecture.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Dr. Eric Foner will discuss the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the impact on American society during a lecture at Mercer County Community College March 7. (Photo by Daniella Zalcman)