ISSUED: 11 October 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s President’s Lecture Series will feature historian Dennis Frye with a talk titled “Who Owns History?” on Tuesday, October 19, at 6:30 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education auditorium.
“History is not facts; it is not chronology; it is not dates,” Frye said. “History is perspective. History is point-of-view. History is, in essence, opinion. Hence, history changes as opinions about history evolve. Understanding of history transforms with time and distance, often to the detriment of the original chroniclers of history. And those who first record history often tell the story with prejudice and power.”
Frye recently retired after 20 years as chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. For his more than three decades of National Park service, Frye earned the Department of Interior’s Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor conferred by the department. Frye also has earned the American Battlefield Trust highest award, The Shelby Foote Award, as well as the Chicago Civil War Round Table’s (CWRT) Nevins-Freeman Award; the Kansas City CWRT’s Harry S. Truman Award; and the Olde Colony CWRT’s Revere Award.
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