Rediscovering James W.C. Pennington

Prof. Dr. Manisha Sinha, University of Connecticut (USA), Department of History
Dr. Caitlin Smith, St. Bonaventure University (USA), Department of English
Prof. Dr. Jan Stievermann, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg Center for American Studies

30. Juni 2026

This book launch will present new research on James W.C. Pennington (1808-1870), a truly remarkable figure of Black religious and political history who received an Honorary Doctorate from Heidelberg University in 1849. Pennington was an internationally recognized figure whose writings, lectures, and involvement with various abolitionist organizations make him one of the forgotten African American architects of the antislavery movement. Together with Prof. Manisha Sinha, Profs. Jan Stievermann and Caitlin Smith will talk about the two recent volumes on Pennington they have co-edited for Oxford University Press – an anthology titled The Fugitive Blacksmith and Other Essential Writings by James W.C. Pennington, and James W.C. Pennington: Essays Toward Rediscovering a Great African American Intellectual and Reformer.