Maurice Isserman, an expert on 20th century history who's considered one of the pre-eminent historians of the 1960s, will speak at 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 26, in the Welles-Brown Room of Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester River Campus. Isserman will discuss his new book, The Other American, a biography of the late Michael Harrington, who is most famous for his 1962 book on poverty entitled The Other America.
Isserman is the William R. Kenan Professor of History at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. A Fulbright grant winner, he has written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Nation. He is currently co-authoring America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. Isserman received a bachelor's degree from Reed College in Oregon and his doctorate from the University of Rochester.
His new book chronicles the life of Harrington, a socialist in the United States during the last half of the century. Harrington's work is credited with prompting Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to begin the war on poverty.
Isserman's talk is the first of the newly established Graduate Alumni Lecture Series sponsored by the Department of History.