Clemson alumnus Robert Elder, associate professor of history at Baylor University, will deliver a lecture titled “Where History, Memory and Place Collide: John C. Calhoun and the U.S. Congress” at 6 p.m. Friday, September 20, at the Strom Thurmond Institute auditorium.
The presentation will be followed by a conversation between Elder and Clemson professor Vernon Burton, about Calhoun’s complicated legacy in American history and in the history of Clemson University. Elder first spoke at Clemson last year on his book “Calhoun: American Heretic” and was invited back to delve deeper into Calhoun’s early political career. University Historian Otis Pickett plans to make Elder’s visits an annual event to further explore specific periods of Calhoun’s life.
“Dr. Elder is considered by many to be the greatest living scholar on John C. Calhoun,” said Pickett. “I want to host these conversations to help people understand what it means to work, study, and live on the site of Calhoun’s plantation, and there is no one better to lead that discussion than Robert Elder.”
Elder earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Clemson and a Ph.D. in history from Emory University. At Baylor, he teaches courses on the American South, the Early Republic and the Civil War.
“Calhoun: American Heretic” was the winner of the Laney Book Prize from the Austin Civil War Roundtable and was a finalist for the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of the Year and for the George C. Rogers Book Award. Pickett said the book is an “even-handed, critical biography” of Calhoun’s life and legacy and the impact that his views continue to have on the political climate today.
Elder’s visit is hosted by the office of the Clemson University Historian, the Department of Historic Properties, the Department of History and Geography, Clemson Libraries, the Clemson Humanities Hub, the College of Arts and Humanities, and Special Collections and Archives. The event is free and open to the public.