Colorado State University – Pueblo to present Slavery Expert for speech and workshop  

Pueblo- Renowned slavery expert Dr. Ira Berlin will present “The History of Slavery in America” beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15 in the Occhiato University Center West Ballroom at Colorado State University-Pueblo. He also will lead a workshop for K-12 teachers of American history, “Teaching About Slavery in the Classroom," from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, in the OUC Ballroom.

Berlin is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He has written extensively on American history and the larger Atlantic world in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly the history of slavery. He is past president of the Organization of American Historians and, in 2004, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been awarded numerous grants for his scholarly work from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

He has won many prizes for his books, including the Bancroft Prize and the Frederick Douglass Prize by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute for “Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in Mainland North America,” his study of African-American life between 1619 and 1819. This book will be given free to all teachers who attend the speech, and Berlin will be available to sign their copies.

The Tuesday speech is free and open to the public. The workshop is for K-12 teachers, who will be eligible for a $30 stipend upon completion. To reserve a spot at the workshop or for more information, call (719) 369-3026. These presentations are sponsored by the Southeastern Colorado American History Project (SECAHP), a federally funded partnership among Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo School District 70, and 16 regional school districts.


Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students...