Marshall University will host historian and author Richard Bell as part of its Amicus Curiae Lecture Series on Constitutional Democracy. The lecture, titled “Shall Not Be Denied or Abridged: The Right to Vote in America,” is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall.
Patricia Proctor, director of the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy, which sponsors the series, said, “Richard Bell is a dynamic and highly regarded speaker who will discuss an issue important to us all: the right to vote to elect our leaders.”
Bell is a professor of history at the University of Maryland and frequently lectures on C-Span and at the Smithsonian Institution. His talk will examine the nation’s voting rights history from post-Revolution times to today, focusing on how expansions in voting rights have often faced strong opposition. According to Bell’s research, this progression has been complex and continues into modern times.
Proctor noted the importance of voter participation: “Americans have fought and died for the right to vote, but the number of eligible voters in the United States who actually turn out and participate in elections lags behind many democracies,” she said. “Marshall is a voter-friendly campus, and we want to emphasize the importance of exercising that right for a democracy to be truly representative of the people. Understanding this history is a key part of understanding the meaning of citizenship.”
Bell holds degrees from Cambridge (B.A.) and Harvard (Ph.D.), with fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress. He has received both the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award and an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship.
His book “Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home” was recognized as a finalist for both the George Washington Prize and Harriet Tubman Prize in 2019. His next book, “The American Revolution and the Fate of the World,” will be published by Penguin in November.
The event is part of Marshall’s Constitution Month celebration. It is co-sponsored by both the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy and John Deaver Drinko Academy at Marshall University. The Society of Yeager Scholars will provide refreshments after the lecture. Admission is free and open to everyone.
