On April 14, historian Jennifer Delton will present this year’s Paul V. McNutt lecture on the history of liberalism in the United States.
Although the majority of research focuses on the diminished role of liberalism in the U.S., Delton will point to the reasons why liberalism remained influential for as long as it did and how its legacy continues to have an influence on present-day politics.
“Back in the 20th century, liberalism was the dominant political ideology of the United States. And then it wasn’t,” Delton said in an abstract for the lecture. “Much has been written about why it failed; this talk examines the reasons it was as successful as it was and how its legacy continues to shape our politics today.”
She will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the University Club President’s Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.
The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
Delton has a doctorate in history from Princeton University and teaches courses at Skidmore College on foreign policy, race, the Progressive Era, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, American communism, conservatism, business history and African-American history.
Delton has authored three books: “Making Minnesota Liberal: Civil Rights and the Transformation of the Democratic Party,” “Racial Integration in Corporate America, 1940-1990” and “Rethinking the 1950s: How Anticommunism and the Cold War Made America Liberal.”
The Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences sponsors the annual McNutt Lecture. The lecture honors Paul V. McNutt, who was dean of the IU School of Law from 1925 to 1933 before becoming Indiana’s governor and serving as U.S. high commissioner to the Philippines, director of the Federal Security Agency and chairman of the War Manpower Commission during World War II.
Taylor Telford
