Timely Connections: Individual Influence

The article, In a Lost Essay, a Glimpse of an Elusive Poet and Slave (The New York Times Sept. 25, 2017), tells the intriguing story of the discovery of a primary source text by Jonathan Senchyne, an assistant professor of book history at the University of Wisconsin. The essay, “Individual Influence” by North Carolina slave and poet George Moses Horton, was found in a scrapbook documenting an 1856 University of North Carolina (UNC) controversy compiled by Henry Harrisse, a 19th-century historian and professor. The controversy involved Benjamin S. Hedrick, another UNC professor of analytical and agricultural chemistry, who lost his job following his public opposition to slavery and support of republican presidential candidate John C. Frémont. Harrisse, was also dismissed from the university and was, according to Senchyne, “clearly up to something with the placement of these texts. Harrisse has too little influence, and can’t control his classroom. Hedrick is thought to have too much, and is feared by people in power. And then, in the middle of all that, you have Horton’s essay on individual influence.”

Below we provide links to articles, background information, and primary sources related to one poet and two professors in 19th-century America. What lessons about individual influence can you learn from these sources that apply to civic life today?

Related news resources

• In a Lost Essay, a Glimpse of an Elusive Poet and Slave New York Times article republished in The Seattle Times October 6, 2017
• Slave Poet’s Lost Essay On ‘Individual Influence’ Resonates Through Centuries NPR September 30, 2017

Background information

• A North Carolina Slave Poet Documenting the American South, University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• George Moses Horton Poetry Foundation (includes links to text of 8 poems)
• Henry Harrisse biographical information New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts
• Professor Hedrick’s biographical information Slavery and the Making of the University, UNC Libraries

Primary sources

• George Moses Horton
  • Individual Influence by George Moses Horton New York Public Library Digital Collections
  • A North Carolina Poet The Western Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.), 24 April 1860
  • Lines written after sunset by George M. Horton The North-Carolinian (Fayetteville [N.C.]), 30 Oct. 1841
  • The Poetical Works of George M. Horton 1845
• Henry Harrisse
  • University of North Carolina Does the internal condition of the Institution correspond to its external prosperity? A Memorial Submitted to the consideration of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees September 29, 1856 Documenting the American South, University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Benjamin Hedrick
  • Fremont in the South Semi-Weekly Standard. (Raleigh, N.C.), 13 Sept. 1856
  • Communications – Fremont in the South Semi-Weekly Standard. (Raleigh, N.C.), 27 Sept. 1856
  • Prof. Hedrick’s Defence from the North Carolina Standard of Oct 8, 1856
  • Prof. Hedrick of the University Semi-Weekly Standard. (Raleigh, N.C.), 04 Oct. 1856
  • More Professor Hedrick historical newspaper coverage 1856-57
  • Are North Carolinians Freemen? pamphlet October 1, 1856
  • B. S. Hedrick to Salmon P. Chase, Saturday, September 14, 1861 letter, Abraham Lincoln Papers
  • John G. Foster to B. S. Hedrick, Monday, August 31, 1863 letter, Abraham Lincoln Papers
  • B. S. Hedrick to Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday, September 30, 1863 letter, Abraham Lincoln Papers
  • E. Graham Tull to B. S. Hedrick, Tuesday, March 08, 1864 letter, Abraham Lincoln Papers
• Black Republicans
  • Hedrick and black republican historical newspaper coverage 1856-57
  • Black republican primary source set
• John C. Frémont & the 1856 Presidential Election
  • John C.Frémont primary sources
  • Presidential Election of 1856: A Resource Guide

Related primary sources & teaching resources

• Primary Source Spotlight: Poetry
• Primary Source Learning: Poets & Poetry
• Primary Source Spotlight: Slavery (U.S.)
• Primary Source Learning: Slavery (U.S.)

More Timely Connections posts

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