Historian Dr. Linda Przybyszewski, author of a recent biography on Harlan, will discuss the life and contributions of the justice during a program Thursday, April 26 sponsored by EKU's Center for Kentucky History and Politics and the University's Departments of Government and History.
Admission is free, and the public is welcome.
Harlan, a native of Boyle County and a founder of the Republican Party in Kentucky, attended Centre College and Transylvania University before establishing a law practice in Louisville. In 1871, he ran unsuccessfully for governor. He was a man of contradictions. He was born into a slaveholding family and fought for the Union in the Civil War, yet he opposed the federal government's emancipation of slaves and the 14th Amendment that said African-Americans were entitled to civil rights granted by the Constitution. She said Harlan should not be viewed as a 20th Century liberal.