This lecture examines the growing political effort to control how the American past is taught and understood in educational settings from classrooms and libraries, to historic sites and museums. Drawing on the Black freedom struggle and the lived work of educators, Hasan Kwame Jeffries argues that teaching honest history is not a partisan act but a democratic necessity—and that what is at stake is nothing less than the future of American democracy.
Jeffries is a historian whose work bridges the classroom and the public square. He has helped shape how the nation remembers and interprets its most difficult history through his leadership in museum exhibition design, historical consulting, and public engagement. Jeffries serves as chair of the Board of Directors at James Madison’s Montpelier, where he is guiding efforts to create a fuller and more honest interpretation of the nation’s founding — one that centers the lives and legacies of the enslaved community alongside Madison’s contributions to democracy.
He is also in his second year on the National Board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, helping to steer the museum’s public history mission at a pivotal moment for cultural institutions. An expert in African American history and the civil rights movement, Jeffries is currently the lead scholar and scriptwriter for the multi-year, multi-million-dollar redesign of the Legacy Exhibition at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. He also serves as the subject matter expert for two National Park Service projects — the Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston, Alabama, and the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Xenia, Ohio — ensuring that these sites tell accurate and compelling stories of struggle, service, and citizenship.
Through his extensive public history work, Jeffries has helped museums and historic sites across the country grapple with how to tell the truth about race and democracy. His insights reach wide audiences through his frequent appearances in major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, CNN, and MSNBC, as well as through his hosting of the acclaimed Teaching Hard History podcast and his widely viewed TED Talk, “Why We Must Confront the Painful Parts of U.S. History.”
In recognition of his scholarship and civic leadership, Jeffries was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Commission Hall of Fame in October 2025. Jeffries is The College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, where he teaches courses on African American history, the civil rights and Black Power movements, and the politics of race and democracy in America.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he earned his B.A. in history from Morehouse College and his Ph.D. in American history from Duke University.