Merrill D. Peterson, RIP

Damon W. Root | September 28, 2009

Merrill D. Peterson, a distinguished scholar of Thomas Jefferson and former chair of the University of Virginia's history department, died last week at the age of 88. I learned a lot from his Bancroft Prize-winning book The Jefferson Image in the America Mind, which chronicled the use and abuse of Jefferson's ideas and legacy in the decades after his death, including in the fierce debate over slavery. Peterson also edited the Library of America's superb edition of Jefferson's Writings. And on a libertarian note, Peterson praised Albert Jay Nock's wonderful book Mr. Jefferson as "the most captivating single volume in the Jefferson literature." Here's a nice anecdote from the University of Virginia's announcement of Peterson's death:

A long-time friend and fellow teacher, Paul Gaston, credited Peterson with pioneering the recruitment of black faculty at a turbulent time in Virginia history. His speech on the steps of the Rotunda during a 1965 "Sympathy for Selma" civil rights march, Gaston recalled in 2005, "was one of the greatest speeches that has ever been made."

"He linked Jefferson's principles and legacy of freedom to the Civil Rights Movement," Gaston said. "It really made me proud to know him."

RIP.