Workshop Explores “New History” of Emancipation

The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World (CLAW) program at the College of Charleston was recently awarded an $850 mini-grant from the Humanities Council SC. The grant supports a teachers’ workshop, “Teaching the New History of Emancipation”  that will be held on Friday, February 1, 2013 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in room 227 of Addelstone Library.

The workshop is a part of the Jubilee Project commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of some South Carolina educational institutions. “As we mark some of the most important events in our history, the workshop aims to lay the foundation for an enduring collaboration among teachers, curriculum experts, heritage and cultural workers, activists, web developers, and research historians,” says Simon Lewis, Associate Director of the CLAW program.

Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University will deliver the keynote address. One of the nation’s most prominent historians, Foner is one of only two people to have served as president of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), the American Historical Association (AHA), and the Society of American Historians (SAH). His most recent book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for History, as well as the Lincoln Prize and the Bancroft Prize (Foner’s second).

The workshop is running in parallel with the Southern American Studies Association conference which is being held at the College at the same time. To register email carolinateachersworkshop@gmail.com. For more information, please contact Simon Lewis at lewiss@cofc.edu or 843.953.1920.