University of Northern Iowa
08/17/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/17/2026 12:05
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed to deliver Constitution Day address at UNI
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Harvard University professor Annette Gordon-Reed will present "Thomas Jefferson and the Presidency" as the University of Northern Iowa's 2026 Constitution Day address on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. in Bengtson Auditorium, Russell Hall.
The lecture is sponsored by the UNI Department of History, School of Public Affairs and Service, and Center for Civic Education. It is presented through the Carl L. Becker Lecture Series, in partnership with the Hoxie Forum, and is free and open to the public. Advance registration is encouraged at csbs.uni.edu/constitution-day-2026.
One of the nation's foremost scholars of early American history, Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University and an award-winning historian, legal scholar and author whose work has reshaped the study of Thomas Jefferson and the nation's founding. She received the Pulitzer Prize for History and the National Book Award for "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family" and is also the author of "On Juneteenth, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy" and several other acclaimed books examining the complexities of American history.
"The Department of History's annual Carl L. Becker Memorial Lecture has a long tradition of bringing historians of national significance to UNI," said Jennifer McNabb, head of the Department of History. "Annette Gordon-Reed's distinguished record of scholarship has enhanced our understanding of early American history and helped move the field in new and exciting directions."
Her Constitution Day address will explore the legacy of Thomas Jefferson's presidency and its continuing influence on American government and constitutional democracy. As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, Gordon-Reed's scholarship offers a timely perspective on the people and ideas that shaped the nation.
"This Constitution Day address provides us with a chance during our America 250 celebrations to examine how the ideas of the founding generation informed the Constitution," said Scott Peters, director of the School for Public Affairs & Service. "The work of translating our national ideals into governance is never done, so it's also a time for all of us to come together and consider how those debates are still relevant today."
The Carl L. Becker Memorial Lecture in History began in 1974 and is sponsored by the Department of History and the UNI chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society. It honors distinguished historian and Iowa native Carl L. Becker, whose influential 1931 American Historical Association presidential address, "Everyman His Own Historian," helped shape the study of history for generations. This year's lecture is presented in partnership with the Hoxie Forum, which honors UNI alumnus R. Gordon Hoxie and supports public conversations on the presidency, government and civic engagement.
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