Dr. Nell Irvin Painter, award-winning scholar, writer and Edwards Professor Emeritus of American History at Princeton University, visited campus on Oct. 15 as the fall 2015 SUNY New Paltz Distinguished Speaker. Painter addressed a rapt audience of students, faculty and staff with a talk titled “Sojourner Truth as Historical Person, Photographic Portrait, and American Icon.”
Painter focused much of her lecture on images of Truth and how they help us consider the gaps and contradictions between her iconic reputation as a former slave who became an abolitionist and women’s rights activist, and the actual lived history of a woman whose experiences resisted such simple narratives.
“How do we reconcile the idea of the fiery, strong black woman, on the one hand, with the lady who appeared in these photographs?” Painter asked. “This tension between Truth the historical person and Truth the iconic persona is what attracted me to her biography. I found that the conflict I was seeing did not come into being during her lifetime, but rather, it arose over the course of more than a century, and had as much to do with what Americans wanted from Truth, as with Truth’s own life itself.”
Painter also highlighted Truth’s connection to the Hudson Valley that was the place of her birth, a connection Painter had researched years earlier with guidance from SUNY New Paltz emeritus professor and fellow Truth biographer Carleton Mabee.
“Ulster County is absolutely key to understanding Sojourner Truth, because this is where her identity was formed, where she spent her childhood and where she lived into her thirties,” Painter said. “Through her life she remained a New Yorker, from the Hudson Valley.”
Painter was making her first official visit to campus since she received an honorary doctorate from the College in 1998. Her return was facilitated in part by Mark Colvson, dean of the Sojourner Truth Library, and other Library staff, as they prepare to reopen the upper level of the Library at the completion of a multi-phase renovation project.
“Dr. Painter’s visit marks the kick-off of a series of events celebrating the complete renovation and reopening of the Sojourner Truth Library, in 2016,” said President Donald P. Christian. “Dr. Painter wrote the seminal biography about Sojourner Truth, and we’re delighted that she has returned to campus to help us honor Sojourner Truth and her iconic impact on our country.”
About the Distinguished Speaker Series
Launched in 2008, the Distinguished Speaker Series hosts speakers twice annually in order to connect SUNY New Paltz alumni, students, faculty, staff and community members with highly accomplished alumni, authors, policy makers, leaders, scientists, media experts, business people and other luminaries.
SUNY New Paltz’s 2015 Distinguished Speaker Series was supported by the generosity of the following major sponsors: Buttermilk Falls Inn and Spa, Campus Auxiliary Services, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, The Dorsky Family & The Dorsky Foundation, Frida’s Bakery & Café, Liberty Mutual Insurance, M&T Bank, Sodexo, the SUNY New Paltz Foundation and the Sojourner Truth Library.
For information about the Distinguished Speaker Series and about community sponsorship opportunities, please call (845) 257-3972 or email us at development@newpaltz.edu.
