Talks & Presentations
Invited Participant, "The Problems of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation." National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored conference, Yale University, December 14-15, 1981.
"The Church Anti-Slavery Society and the Role of Religious Institutions in the Civil War-Time Emancipation Campaign." Delivered at the Spring Meeting of the New England Historical Association, April 17, 1982.
"The Role of Antislavery Sentiment in the Schism of the Major Protestant Denominations: The Abolitionists' Assessment." Delivered at the Duquesne University History Forum, October 22, 1992.
"Vote As You Pray and Pray As You Vote: Church-Oriented Abolitionists and Antislavery Politics." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, April 8, 1983.
Commentator, "The Dynamics of Abolitionism." The Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 22, 1983.
"Monarchial Liberty and Republican Slavery: West Indies Emancipation Day Celebrations in Upstate New York and Canada West." With Jason H. Silverman. Delivered at the Biennial Meeting of the American Studies Association, November 5, 1983.
Commentator, "Connecticut in the Middle Period." Delivered at the Semi- Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Connecticut History, November 3, 1984.
"Piecing Together the Douglass Puzzle." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, December 30, 1984.
"Schism: The Non-Ideological Factors Underlying the Factionalization of the American Antislavery Movement." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 27, 1985.
Panelist, "The Mind of Frederick Douglass." The Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical Association, November 14, 1985.
"James Redpath and the North American Black Reaction to the Haitian Emigration Movement." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, April 11, 1986.
"John Ball, Jr., alias 'The Roving Editor," alias James Redpath." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 18, 1987.
Commentator, "The Black Economy: Voluntary and Involuntary." Delivered at Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 23, 1988.
"In Olmsted's Footsteps: An Abolitionist Tours the Late Antebellum South." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Historical Association, November 10, 1989.
"Crusader of Freedom: James Redpath and the Abolitionist Mission in Kansas." Delivered at the Duquesne History Forum, October 25, 1990.
"James Redpath: Ireland's Adopted Journalistic Champion." Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Journalism Historians Association, October 5, 1991.
"An Abolitionist Reports the Civil War: James Redpath, Union Army Correspondent." Delivered at the Duquesne History Forum, October 24, 1991.
“John Brown’s Followers in the Civil War.” Delivered at the multidisciplinary symposium “John Brown: the Man, the Legend, the Legacy," Pennsylvania State University-Mount Alto Campus, July 26, 1996.
“An Ex-Abolitionist Befriends an Ex-Confederate: The Postwar Relationship of James Redpath and Jefferson Davis.” Delivered at the Duquesne History Forum, October 24, 1996.
"Political Violence in Historical Perspective: Harpers Ferry as a Test Case." Delivered at the West Virginia History Conference. March 11, 1997.
“The Documentary Editor as Public Historian.” Delivered at the West Virginia History Conference. March 11, 1997.
“The Sectional Division of the Nation's Churches as an Indicator of Northern Antislavery Sentiment.” Delivered at the semi-annual meeting of the Southeastern Colloquium for American Religious Studies. November 7, 1997.
Commentator, “Community and Abolitionism.” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic. July 17, 1998.
“Peaceful Means vs. Violent Realities: American Abolitionist Tactics.” Delivered at the annual meeting of the Indiana Association of Historians. March 1, 2003.
Participant, “Historic Recreation of the 1834 Lane Seminary Debate on Slavery.” Sponsored by the Connecticut Humanities Council and the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation. May 30-31, 2003
Moderator, “Evangelicals, Race and Social Change Across Three Centuries.” Delivered at the Southern Historical Association. November 6, 2003.
“Frederick Douglass and the Dilemmas of Civil Rights Advocacy after the Civil War.” Delivered at the multidisciplinary symposium “Frederick Douglass, Black Freedom, and the American Experience,” West Chester University, October 29, 2004.
Moderator, “Race and Politics: Douglass and Melville," at the “Frederick Douglass and Herman Melville: A Sesquicentennial” in New Bedford Whaling Museum, on June 25, 2005.
“Frederick Douglass: Underground Railroad Passenger, Conductor, Advocate, and Passenger.” Underground Railroad Teacher Workshop, February 18, 2006.
“Frederick Douglass: Underground Railroad Passenger, Advocate, Conductor, Advocate, and Political Asylum Seeker.” Frederick Douglass International Underground Railroad Conference, Rochester, N.Y., September 18-20, 2007.
“Forgotten Firebrand: James Redpath (1833-1891),” Indiana Association of Historians, February 22, 2008.
Keynoter, “Frederick Douglass and the Underground Railroad.” Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Trails to Freedom. Philadelphia, Pa., September 19, 2008.
“Battle for the Border State Soul: The Slavery Debate in the Churches of the Middle States.” Filson Club Annual Conference. Louisville, Ky., October 24, 2008.
Chair. ”Extralegal Violence and Rights in the Early Republic,” Session at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 2009.
“John Brown, Harpers Ferry, and the Undergrounds Railroad.” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Trails to Freedom. Indianapolis, Ind., September 18, 2009.
Chair. “The Violence of John Brown: Origins, Responses, and Consequences.” John Brown Remembered: 150th Anniversary of the Raid on Harpers Ferry,” October 16, 2009.
“After Harpers Ferry: Militant Abolitionists Regroup.” Delivered at the Symposium: “John Brown Remembered: 150th Anniversary of the Raid on Harpers Ferry,” October 17, 2009.
Chair. “Abraham Lincoln and the Abolitionists.” Session at the Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society, Wheaton, Ill. March 8, 2010.
“Frederick Douglass: Underground Railroad Passenger, Advocate, Conductor, Advocate, and Political Asylum Seeker.” Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early Republic, July 25, 2010.
“Frederick Douglass and the Abolitionist Response to the Election of 1860.” Delivered at the Indiana Civil War Study Group Symposium. September 18, 2010.
Chair. “The Communitarian Movement and Antebellum Reform.” Annual Meeting of Society for the Study of Communitarian Movements. Evansville, Ind. October 2, 2010.
Plenary Speaker, “Frederick Douglass and African American Participation in the Civil War. Delivered at the Monthly Meeting of the Indianapolis Civil War Roundtable, September 12, 2011.
Keynote Speaker, “The Gerrit Smith-Frederick Douglass Partnership.” Biannual Meeting of the National Abolition Hall of Fame, October 22, 2011.
"Stalwart Douglass: Life and Times as Political Manifesto.” Delivered at the Rediscovering the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass Symposium, October 5, 2012.
Moderator: “Roundtable: Assessing A Generation at War.” Indiana Association of Historians Annual Meeting, March 2, 2103.
“The Northern Church and the Moral Dimension of the Slavery Dispute.” Underground Railroad Speaker Series, Eleutherian College, Madison, Indiana. August 10, 2013.
Induction Nomination Address: “John Rankin: Ohio’s Presbyterian Abolitionist.” Biannual Meeting of the National Abolition Hall of Fame, October 20, 2013.
Moderator: “”The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker: The Historical Development of a Business Empire.” First Annual Madame C.J. Walker/Frederick Douglass Lecture Series, December 6, 2013.
Chair: “The Political Culture of Antebellum Free Blacks in Illinois.” Session at the Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society, March 28, 2014.
“Autographs for Freedom: The Heroic Slave’s Antislavery Audience.” Delivered at the Frederick Douglass’s The Heroic Slave and the American Revolutionary Tradition Symposium, October 9, 2014. With Rebecca A. Pattillo.
Panelist. “Slave Rebels throughout American History.” Second Annual Madame C.J. Walker/Frederick Douglass Lecture Series, October 10, 2014.
“The ‘Relationship’ between Madame C.J. Walker and Frederick Douglass.” Third Annual Madame C.J. Walker/Frederick Douglass Lecture Series, November 6, 2015.
“’A New Vocation before Me’: Frederick Douglass’s Post-Civil War Lyceum Career." Fourth Annual Madame C.J. Walker/Frederick Douglass Lecture Series, October 20, 2016.
“’The Most Wonderful Man that America Has Ever Produced’: Frederick Douglass and His Contemporary Biographers.” “Frederick Douglass at 200: His Living Words” Symposium, October 25, 2018.
"’Now is the Time!’ Reading Frederick Douglass Together in 2020.” National Humanities Conference, November 12, 2020.
“’Fair Play for the Irishman’: Frederick Douglass and Irish Home Rule.” @Douglass Week, February 1, 2021.
“The Frederick Douglass Papers Digital Edition: A Cautionary Tale” Textual Editing and the Future of Scholarly Editions: A Conference on the Bicentennial of James Fennimore Cooper’s The Spy. May 26, 2021
“Frederick Douglass’s ‘New Departure’ in the Reconstruction Era Woman Suffrage Movement.” Race, Religion, and Politics in the Age of Frederick Douglass”: An Online Symposium. February 16, 2022.
“Editing Documents in US Political History.” American Political History Conference, June 2022.
“Martin Delany and James Redpath: Emigrationist Revivals.” Martin Robinson Delany Symposium, August 26, 2022.