I became interested in this topic when I was at Michigan State, and then afterward when I had a job as a high school teacher. A lot of my research focuses on the era of slavery, the civil war, and reconstruction. Together with a staff of five people, we run conferences and panels, and give out fellowships. I also direct a research institute called the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. First of all, I teach both undergraduates and graduate students. Blight is a professor at Yale University, where he teaches and researches history. It had a lot of an impact on all of us.Ĭurrently, Dr. It's caused a lot of anxieties and even guilt for many of us in that generation - I mean, we were the Vietnam generation. It had been part of our lives then, from the moment we turned 18. We took up a collection of money for the guy on our floor who had the lowest number, and I think we raised around $200. I still remember the day that the lottery was televised - we all sat in front of the televisions in Wilson hall, finding out what our draft status would be. I lived on the 5th floor of Wilson hall when the lottery went into effect. I lived in Wilson hall when the Vietnam lottery went into effect. It was an extraordinary time to be an undergraduate. Blight recalls what it was like to be involved in the Vietnam War draft lottery. My experience was a mix of loving history, loving baseball, and then getting out of it as a more politicized person and a broader thinker.ĭuring his time at Michigan State, Dr. That was a politicizing process for me as a young man and a young student. I attended a lot of anti-war rallies that Spring, when there were student protests that were popping up all over the country. The third part of my experience there was in the Spring of 1970, when I got more involved in politics. It wasn't easy to combine full-time serious academics and full-time serious sports, but some of us did it, proving it can be done. The then coach was the legendary Danny Litwiler, a hall of fame baseball player, but we parted ways in the mid-winter of 1970 in part because I didn't have the talent. I had a special combination of experiences which included being a history major and a baseball player. These were very turbulent years, with the Civil Rights movement and the anti-Vietnam war movement. I was an undergraduate at Michigan State from 1967 to '71. Blight balanced baseball with his history education, and later pursued his political passions. A student-athlete for the first half of his college career, Dr. Below, he discusses his inspiration for this incredible act of generosity, as well as his MSU experience and his current position as a Yale historian.ĭr. Blight created the Blight History Scholarship Award to help students from working class families cover the cost of their tuition. He is also a proud Social Science Spartan, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in History in 1971 and then a Master's degree in 1976.
David Blight is a world-renowned historian, a critically-acclaimed author and a beloved professor at Yale University. Social Science Supporter Spotlight: Meet Yale Historian Dr.
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