The Unsettling Legacy of Wayland Jefferson: Missing Evidence, Racism, & Collective Amnesiawith author Jacqueline Dinan.
About this Event
In 1935, the Town of Southold elected Wayland Jefferson their official historian. During his tenure, Jefferson disrupted traditional religious narratives and wrote histories steeped in taboo subjects—sex, smuggling, and slavery. Although institutions pushed back after 1940 to reclaim their cultural dominance, Jefferson pursued venues remaining open to him to promote his counternarratives.
Author Jacqueline Dinan will discuss her new biography, The Unsettling Legacy of Wayland Jefferson, and the controversies related to the Southold historian that erupted after his death: the intersection of racism and historiography, shifting perspectives on collective memory and collective amnesia, and the application of scientific testing to correct errors of interpretation.
Event Venue
Suffolk County Historical Society, 300 West Main Street, Riverhead, United States
USD 10.38
