Recent Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Hahn delivered this year's inaugural Provost's Lecture last night.
"I'm so new at Penn," the History professor confessed, "that I've never been to a Provost's Lecture before."
Hahn, now in his second year at Penn, specializes in social and political history of 19th-century America, and this spring was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history for his book A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration.
Appropriately enough, he delivered his talk in response to the question, "Can Slaves Practice Politics?"
Hahn opened by describing this as "a deceptively simple question," and proceeded to expand on the theory that the foundations of black politics were created in slave communities preceding the Emancipation Proclamation and the enfranchisement of the black community.
He stressed the importance of kinship and labor in these slave communities, and how shifts and struggles in the resulting groups became "constituent elements in slave politics."
He expanded on this theme and discussed how examining this aspect of black culture made it "no longer possible to approach the political history of the pre-Civil War South as solely affected by the franchise."
Hahn lectured for an hour and then took a number of questions from the audience.
"I'm just interested in what he has to say," College junior Ashley Johnson said about her reasons for attending the lecture. "There usually aren't many students at these things," she continued. "I think there should be more."
Following his talk, Hahn commented on the relevance of the subject to present-day politics, especially in light of the upcoming election.
"This is just one example of how people engage in politics -- especially those without political rights," he said, referencing his lecture.
Regarding the presidential election, he said, "It reminds me of the South," referring to the heated political climate and the questionable matter of how much an individual vote does indeed affect who is in office.
He proceeded to describe the extreme measures newly enfranchised blacks took in order to participate in politics, describing their actions as "military undertakings."
"My concern now," he added, referring to the present-day political scene, "is that the will to power is what has become important."
Hahn cited the civil rights movement for sparking his initial interest in the South.
"The field of Southern history used to be pretty much dominated by Southerners," he said.
"There are a whole lot of people who grew up in the five boroughs of New York who are really interested in Southern history," he said, smiling wryly. "It's become a much more diverse field."
Approximately 40 students and other members of the Penn community were in attendance at a recital room in Irvine Auditorium to hear Hahn speak.
The Provost's Lecture Series, which is in its sixth year, aims to bring high-quality scholars who are experts in their field to the Penn community.
