Dr. Douglas Brinkley, one of America’s leading presidential and cultural historians, will share his insights on America’s longest-serving president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, at his Chautauqua lecture on Thursday, April 7, at Eastern Kentucky University.
The New York Times bestselling author, who’s also a history professor and Fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Texas, will present “Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America” at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. His talk is free and open to the public.
Brinkley’s teaching and writing career has focused on United States history, foreign policy, environmental history and civil rights issues. He was described by well-known author and historian Stephen Ambrose as “the best of the new generation of American historians.” Brinkley has written numerous books, including “The American Heritage History of the United States,” “Cronkite,” “Rosa Parks: A Life” and “Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.”
Brinkley’s books have been chosen as New York Times Notable Books of the Year four times. “Wilderness Warrior” won the National Outdoor Book Award in the history/biography category in 2009. The New York Times called it “a vast, inspiring and enormously entertaining book … large-hearted, full of the vitality of its subject and a palpable love of the landscape it describes.”
Brinkley earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and a doctorate at Georgetown University. He was recently chosen to preside over Allegheny College’s 2015 Prize for Civility in Public Life Awards for the selection of the most important moments of civility in U.S. history.
His lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President; the Department of History; the Department of English and Theatre; the Department of Language, Cultures and Humanities; the Comparative Humanities Program; and EKU Honors.
For more information, visit www.chautauqua.eku.eduor contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Dr. Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu.