With the Iowa GOP caucus being the closest in history and only 8 votes separating the two top contenders, we are reminded of the importance of every American in our Republic today.
Author, professor and historian Christopher Webber discusses the crucial need for nurturing character in Americans today, including their civic involvement and participation as citizens in everything from working hard to overcoming racism and advocating justice for all.
During your interview he explains why he wrote the incredible story of a forgotten hero of nineteenth century America—a former slave who became a Yale scholar, congregational pastor, and international leader of the Antebellum abolitionist movement, and what we need to learn from his example to see our nation flourish once again.
In his book, “America to the Backbone,” Professor Webber begins in 1827, chronicling the life of James Pennington, a 19-year-old who was scared and illiterate, having just escaped from slavery but soon became one of the leading voices against slavery prior to the Civil War.
In five years Pennington had become a school teacher and just ten years after his escape, he was ordained to the ministry after studying at Yale. He served congregations in Long Island, Hartford, and Manhattan and traveled three times to England, Scotland, and the continent of Europe as an anti-slavery advocate. He was so respected by European audiences that the University of Heidelberg awarded him an honorary doctorate, making him the first person of African descent to receive such a degree. After the Civil War, he served briefly in Mississippi during reconstruction and then in Portland, Maine, and finally in Jacksonville, Florida.
As he fought for equal rights in America, Pennington’s voice was not limited to the preacher’s pulpit. He wrote the first-ever “History of the Colored People” as well as a careful study of the moral basis for civil disobedience, which would be echoed decades later by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. More than a century before Rosa Parks took her transformational bus ride, Pennington challenged segregated seating in New York City street cars. He was beaten and arrested, but eventually vindicated when the New York State Supreme Court ordered the cars to be integrated. In 1853, as African Americans struggled to define their role in America in the face of growing racism, Pennington was chosen to preside at a Negro National Convention in Rochester, New York. Leading white Americans attempted to define their country in mono-racial terms and many black Americans emigrated to Liberia or Haiti, but Pennington insisted “I am an American to the backbone” and am entitled to the same rights as anyone else.
Often deeply discouraged himself, Pennington retained a delightful sense of humor, intellectual vivacity, and inspiring faith. American to the Backbone brings to life this fascinating, forgotten pioneer, who helped lay the foundation for the contemporary civil rights revolution and inspire generations of future leaders.
The book, “America to the Backbone,” is available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Publication date: July 15, 2011.
Comments about the book, “America to the Backbone”:
“A richly detailed, wide-ranging biography of a modestly neglected black religious leader who was born a slave . . Webber’s decision to cast his net widely has produced an important biography as well as insight into their pre-Civil War free-black subculture . . .”
-- Kirkus Reviews
” . . . a very necessary book.”
--Graham Hodges, George Dorland Langland Jr. Professor of History and Africana Studies, Colgate University
” . . . a surprise disguised as a book. . . We need to hear this because it can change how we think and act today. Chris Webber tells the story clearly, carefully, thoroughly, wisely. This is reading that’s worth it.”
--Sam Waterston, Actor and Director
” . . . a compelling account of an extraordinary American, one Christopher Webber chronicles through his adroit use of historical sources and imaginative skills as a story teller. . . . We can only be grateful to Webber for his meticulous work in voicing the witness of this c0mpelling American life with such clarity, care, and compassion.”
--Mark Burrows, Professor of the History of Christianity, Andover Newton Theological School
” . . . historical biography at its best . . . accessible, engaging, and scholarly rigorous . . . an important addition to the historiography of the pioneers of the anti-slavery and civil rights movement.”
--Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, Claremont School of Theology
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, CHRISTOPHER L. WEBBER…
Christopher L. Webber, a graduate of Princeton University and the General Theological Seminary in New York (with two earned degrees and an honorary doctorate from the latter) , is the author of a number of books ranging from a guidebook for Vestries to a study of Christian marriage. He has also written hymns included in several major hymnals in the United States and Canada. His most recent books are American to the Backbone, a biography of James W.C. Pennington, a remarkable pre-Civil War abolition leader, Welcome to Christian Faith, an introduction to Christian life and teaching, Beyond Beowulf, the first-ever sequel to the old English saga, Beowulf, and A Year with American Saints, co-authored with Lutheran Pastor G. Scott Cady, which presents, stories of 365 men and women of every Christian tradition who have helped shape American life over four centuries. Other books include A Traveler’s Prayer Book, an introduction to the Episcopal Church called Welcome to the Episcopal Church, and Re-Thinking Marriage, the complete background to the current debate over a definition of marriage.
Webber has given lectures and workshops on his various books in a number of states and has given readings from Beyond Beowulf in libraries and bookstores as well as on television. He has also lectured on Islam in the Connecticut area.
He has climbed Mt. Fuji as well as the highest peaks in New York and New England, traveled widely in Europe and Asia, and makes several gallons of maple syrup annually to distribute to family and friends.
Married to Margaret Elisabeth (Rose) Webber and the father of four children, he lives in Sharon in a house he and his wife built more than twenty years ago. He spends any spare time taking care of a vegetable garden and orchard.
Date Recorded: 01/11/2012
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