America at 250 with Historians Annette Gordon-Reed and Doris Kearns Goodwin moderated by Mark Updegrove

The New Albany Lecture Series focuses on America at 250 with American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annette Gordon-Reed and Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin moderated by historian and author Mark Updegrove, Chairman and CEO of the LBJ Foundation.

ANNETTE GORDON-REED
American Historian & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

Annette Gordon-Reed is a Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School, the President of the Organization of American Historians, and the award-winning author of six books.

Her first New York Times bestselling book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, won the Pulitzer Prize for history and the National Book Award for nonfiction—along with fourteen other awards. It explores the inconsistencies of Jefferson’s stance on slavery and his relationship with enslaved woman Sally Hemings, and “stands dramatically apart for its searching intelligence and breadth of humane vision” (Chicago Tribune).

Her latest book, On Juneteenth, sets out to capture the integral importance of the holiday to American history. A powerful, essential work of history that weaves together America’s past with personal memoir, this New York Times bestseller was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times (which chose it as one of its five best non-fiction books of the year), The Washington Post, TIME, and NPR, among many others. When President Joe Biden finally signed into law a bill that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday—the culmination of a decades-long effort—Annette was among those invited to witness the historic moment.

Her other books include Jefferson on Race, a groundbreaking collection of Thomas Jefferson’s writings on slavery and race. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham writes that “There is no one on earth better equipped to take on the formidable subject of Thomas Jefferson and race than Annette Gordon-Reed. Wise, fearless, and brilliant, she has given us a vital collection of documents that repay our careful attention. Gordon-Reed is indispensable, and so is this book.” Annette’s other books include Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy—a rich examination of scholarly writing on the relationships between Jefferson and Hemings, which exposes the possibility that scholars were misguided by their own biases and may even have contorted evidence to preserve their preexisting opinions of Jefferson—and “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination, a provocative character study of Jefferson that challenges much of the scholarly status quo on his portrayal throughout history.

Her honors include the National Humanities Medal (awarded by President Barack Obama), a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Annette was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the Academy’s Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2019, she was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society. Annette was also the first Black student to enroll in an all-white school in her town in Texas. There is now a school named after her there.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
Presidential Historian & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker, Pulitzer Prize–winning and #1 New York Times best-selling author, and a partner in Pastimes Productions. Goodwin is often called upon by the news media, late-night TV hosts, and hundreds of companies, educational institutions, government agencies, and nonprofits to share her vast knowledge of leadership and provide historical context for current-day events, especially as our democracy is challenged, international wars rage, and we continue to struggle in a divided and polarized country.

Her eighth book, An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, was published in Spring 2024, became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and is being developed as a feature film by Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, Eon Productions’ Barbara Broccoli, and Goodwin’s own Pastimes Productions. Artfully weaving together biography, memoir, and history, this new book takes readers on the emotional journey Doris and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life as they delved into more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. The Goodwins quickly realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s of the events and pivotal figures of the decade—John Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. Their voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.

In Fall 2024, Goodwin’s first book for young readers, The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President, was published. Especially tailored for educational use, Goodwin brings to this middle-grade book decades of rich research combined with deep knowledge of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Adapted by Ruby Shamir from Goodwin’s seventh book, Leadership In Turbulent Times, the two books have in common that they provide an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our everyday lives.

In 2020, Goodwin executive produced her first documentary miniseries, “Washington” for the History Channel, through her independent production company, Pastimes Productions Inc. Miniseries on Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt followed. Pastimes is currently executive producing an eight-part docuseries, “Kevin Costner’s The West” for the History Channel with a release date of May 2025.

Goodwin previously authored six critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling books, including the Carnegie Medal winner The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln,” which earned 12 Academy Award® nominations, including an Academy Award for actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the 16th president. Team of Rivals is often cited as an inspiration for business and political leaders, including President Barack Obama, and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for American History, and Goodwin in 2016 was the first historian to receive the Lincoln Leadership Prize from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.

Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in History for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Her The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys was adapted into an award-winning ABC television miniseries.

Goodwin’s career as a presidential historian and author was inspired when as a 24-year-old graduate student at Harvard Doris Kearns was selected to join the White House Fellows, one of America’s most prestigious programs for leadership and public service. At the White House celebration of the newly chosen Fellows, Kearns and the other two female Fellows found themselves sharing the dance floor with President Johnson. Johnson told Kearns that he wanted her to be assigned directly to him in the White House. But it was not to be that simple. For like many young people, she had been active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and had co-authored an article that called for the removal of LBJ from office and was published in the New Republic several days after the White House dance. Despite this, LBJ said: “Bring her down here for a year and if I can’t win her over no one can.” She worked with Johnson in the White House and later assisted him in the writing of his memoirs.

Goodwin then wrote her first book, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, which became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It was re-released in Spring 2019, highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs.

Goodwin has served as a consultant and has been interviewed extensively for PBS and HISTORY’s documentaries on Presidents Johnson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, the Kennedy family, and on Ken Burns’ “The History of Baseball” and “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.” She served as a consultant on HBO Films’ “All the Way” starring Bryan Cranston as President Johnson. She played herself as a teacher to Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons” and a historian on “American Horror Story.”

Goodwin has received numerous awards for her books and career, including the inaugural American History Book Prize from the New-York Historical Society, the Gold Medal for biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and most recently the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence from the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York for An Unfinished Love Story.

Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College and was invited to deliver the commencement address there in 2024. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency.

Goodwin was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team. She has three sons, four grandchildren and lives in Boston.

MARK UPDEGROVE
Historian & Author, Chairman & CEO of the LBJ Foundation

Mark K. Updegrove is a presidential historian and the award-winning author of four books on the presidency. His last book, The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, drew on exclusive access and interviews with both Bush presidents. His next book, Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency, will be published in April 2022.

As the presidential historian for ABC News, Updegrove is a regular contributor to Good Morning America and ABC News. He also appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC, and has written for The New York Times, Time, Politico, Parade, National Geographic, Texas Monthly, USA Today, and The Daily Beast.

Updegrove currently serves as the President and CEO of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation. From 2009 to 2017, he was the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, where, in 2014, he hosted the Civil Rights Summit, which included Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, and prompted a The New York Times profile of Updegrove titled, “Chronicler of Presidents is Bringing Four Together.” Earlier in his career, he served as U.S. publisher of Newsweek and President of Time magazine’s Canadian edition.

In addition to speaking, Updegrove is well-known for moderating public events, having conducted interviews with seven U.S. presidents and first ladies as well as a wide range of luminaries including Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O’Connor, Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, James Baker, Hank Aaron, John Lewis, and Bryan Cranston.