October 1, 2015

U.S. Civil War the focus of upcoming Rush Lecture at SVSU

Saginaw Valley State University professor Paul Teed will present “Contesting Freedom: The Civil War After Appomattox” as the 18th annual Thomas and Hilda Rush Distinguished Lecture Thursday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. in SVSU’s Founders Hall. His talk is part of the 2015 Fall Focus Lecture Series at SVSU.

Teed will argue that the central issues of the Civil War remained unresolved despite the formal surrender of Confederate armies in 1865. He will show that the war continued in the South through protracted and violent struggles over African American freedom and equality. Teed’s lecture will focus on the dramatic attempts by former slaves and their allies to construct a biracial democracy in the former Confederacy in face of a well-organized white supremacist insurgency. 

A professor of history at SVSU, Teed has taught courses on 19th century American history since 1997. He is the author of multiple books, including “John Quincy Adams: Yankee Nationalist,” published in 2006, and “A Revolutionary Conscience: Theodore Parker and Antebellum America,” published in 2012. He also is a co-author, with Melissa Ladd Teed, of “Reconstruction,” published in 2015.

Teed has received SVSU’s two highest faculty honors, the Franc A. Landee Award for Teaching Excellence in 2000 and the Earl L. Warrick Award for Excellence in Research in 2015. He also was recognized as the 2012 Distinguished Professor of the Year by the Presidents Council of the State Universities of Michigan. Teed completed his Ph.D. in history from the University of Connecticut.

The Rush Lectureship recognizes and rewards SVSU faculty and staff who, by their creation or development of significant scholarly or artistic work, have distinguished themselves and brought recognition to the University.

Thomas and Hilda Rush of Midland created the Rush Endowment as part of SVSU's Campaign for Distinction.  Thomas Rush served on the Board of Control from 1991 to 2000.  A retired orthopedic surgeon who served in several leadership roles as a physician in Midland, he also was a member of the SVSU Foundation Board of Directors.

Hilda Rush has had a long and distinguished career as a professional office and business manager in the health care field.  She was a founding member of the Midland Practice Managers' Association and the Michigan Orthopaedic Group Management Association.

All lectures in SVSU’s Fall Focus series are open to the public; admission is free of charge. For more information on the series, visit svsu.edu/fallfocus.