美国国家公共电台 NPR Slave Poet's Lost Essay On 'Individual Influence' Resonates Through Centuries

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

George Moses Horton published a book of poetry in 1829, when he was still a slave in North Carolina. He went on to write several volumes, which never earned enough money for him to buy his freedom. He was finally set free by the Union Army in 1865, moved to Philadelphia and continued to write until he died, the date of which is not known.

Jonathan Senchyne, a professor of history and information at the University of Wisconsin, recently discovered an essay by George Moses Horton that shows another side of his intelligence, his political insights¹. Dr. Senchyne joins us from New York.

Thanks so much for being with us.

JONATHAN SENCHYNE: Thanks for having me on.

SIMON: Where'd you find the essay?

SENCHYNE: I was in the reading room at the New York Public Library on 42nd and 5th. I was looking into the papers of Henry Harrisse, who went on to become a bibliographer² in the 19th century. It turned out that he had been in Chapel³ Hill in the 1850s. And as I was looking through his papers, getting used to reading his handwriting, I saw a completely different handwriting. And though I had known George Moses Horton was also in Chapel Hill at that time, I did not expect that they knew each other or that Horton's work would have been known to Harrisse. But there it was, two-page essay entitled⁴ "Individual Influence," and with his very bold signature at the bottom, George Moses Horton, of color, 60 years old, belonging to Hall Horton.

SIMON: How does this essay resonate today?

SENCHYNE: Well, one thing that we didn't talk about yet is the essay is contained in a scrapbook. And the rest of the material in the scrapbook has to do with a political controversy⁵ on the campus of Chapel Hill in 1856. And there was a professor, a Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, who supported an antislavery candidate for president, John C. Fremont. Months after I think this essay was written, Hedrick was fired from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for holding his antislavery views.

And one of the things that interests me is that the material that "Individual Influence" is preserved with focuses on the literal⁶ question of influence. Did Hedrick have too much or proper forms of influence over his students in matters of politics? Could a public university professor hold political views that were unpopular in the state and even problematic for the economy of the state? And right now, there are a number of debates over speech and influence on campuses around the United States, especially public university campuses.

And while Horton certainly wouldn't have thought in terms of academic or intellectual freedom, that is something that I think was present to his mind - the nature of his own freedom as a person to move about, to have security in his body but also to think and to speak. And it really intrigues⁷ me that he may have been in the circle of people involved in this controversy in 1856 at Chapel Hill. And their own ideas about slavery and influence and intellectual and personal freedom may have derived⁸ from their relationship with Horton.

SIMON: And I'm embarrassed to tell you - well, I would imagine a lot of people are just hearing about him now.

SENCHYNE: Yeah. You know, George Moses Horton was long known and remembered in North Carolina in black communities. And there is a middle school in Chatham County, N.C., named George Moses Horton Middle School. They have a George Moses Horton Day every February, where they think about their namesake and honor his life and work.

SIMON: Jonathan Senchyne is director of the Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture at University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Thanks so much for being with us.

SENCHYNE: It was a pleasure. Thank you.

1 insights   

洞察力( insight的名词复数 )； 洞悉； 领悟； 顿悟

参考例句：

• This is a book full of profound, original and challenging insights. 这本书充满了深刻、新颖、令人深思的见解。
• Because his judgement was prudent, his insights were central to any consultation. 因为他考虑问题很慎重，所以他的意见在每次磋商时都最受重视。

2 bibliographer   

书志学家，书目提要编著人

参考例句：

• Zhang Xuecheng is a famous historiographer and bibliographer in Qing Dynasty. 摘要章学诚是清代著名的史学家、目录学家。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 entitled   

有资格的

参考例句：

• You will be entitled to your pension when you reach 65. 你到65岁就有资格享受养老金。
• He entitled us to enter his office at any time. 他授权给我们可以随时进入他的办公室。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 literal   

adj.照字面的，原义的，逐字的

参考例句：

• This word should not be taken in its literal sense.这个词不能按本义去理解。
• He made a literal interpretation.他逐字解释。

7 intrigues   

n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• He was made king as a result of various intrigues. 由于搞了各种各样的阴谋，他当上了国王。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Those who go in for intrigues and conspiracy are doomed to failure. 搞阴谋诡计的人注定要失败。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》