Historians for Peace and Democracy (H-PAD) was among the sponsors of a memorial service for historian Jesse Lemisch, who passed away on August 24. He was a co-founder of our predecessor, Historians Against the War, in 2003.
The memorial service was held on Thursday, December 6, 2018 from 4:30 to 6:30. It was held at New York University’s Tamiment Library – 75 Washington Square South, New York City, 10th floor. Over sixty friends and family of Jesse attended.
Speakers included several important figures who knew Jesse both as an important radical intellectual and as a longtime friend: Staughton Lynd, another influential figure in the emergence of New Left history (he spoke via Skype); Marcus Rediker, author of several history books that reflect Lemisch’s concern with “history from below”; and Ann D. Gordon, director of the Stanton-Anthony Papers on the history of the woman suffrage movement. Blanche Wiesen Cook, biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt and a colleague of Lemisch at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was MC for the event. Robert (Robby) Cohen of NYU, main organizer of the event, added thoughts following the main speakers, and over a dozen attendees added brief brief comments from the floor. Informal socializing with refreshments followed the formal program.
The event was taped, and we hope to be able to post the speeches on this website.
Besides H-PAD, the event was sponsored by the following: the NYU History Department, the Radical History Review, the American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning, and the Society for US Intellectual History.
Click here for a six-page list of Jesse Lemisch’s writings, with links to materials that are available on-line.