Book talk with Native American history expert set March 8

The Lewes Public Library and the History Book Festival will welcome historian David J. Silverman for a discussion of his book, “The Chosen and The Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States,” at 5 p.m., Sunday, March 8, at the library, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes, and streaming via Zoom. 

This event is the first in a series of America250 collaborations among the library, the festival and Browseabout Books. "We can't think of a better way to begin our collaborative America250 programming," said Jen Mason, History Book Festival co-founder and chair. "David Silverman is a stellar storyteller, and this book adds vital dimension to our understanding of Indigenous history and race in America."

Silverman’s book places race at the center of Native American U.S. history, restoring the defining role Native people have played – and continue to play – in the nation’s story. When the colonial era began, Europeans did not consider themselves as “whites,” and Native Americans did not think of themselves as “Indians.” Yet as a brutal era of conflict and genocidal campaigns unfolded over the course of generations, all that changed. Silverman shows how white identity became central to American nationhood and how Indian identity contributed to Native Americans' resistance and resilience as modern tribal people. 

Registration is required, and participants will be asked to select in-person or online attendance. Visit tinyurl.com/AuthorEventsLPL or call 302-645-2733 to sign up.

A professor of history at George Washington University, Silver is the author of the award-winning “This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving.” His essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, National Geographic and the Daily Beast.