In this episode, prize-winning author and historian Fergus M. Bordewich discusses his latest book, Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future, which explores the story of the nation’s 100th birthday and the first world’s fair. Bordewich traces the lives of President Rutherford B. Hayes, the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, railroad magnate Tom Scott, and the African American sculptor Edmonia Lewis—revealing a country striving to live up to the promise of the founders while bracing for the tidal wave of the 20th century. Thomas Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Constitutional Center, moderates.
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This episode was produced and mixed by Bill Pollock. With production support from Charles Sahm. Research was provided by Anna Salvatore and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Fergus M. Bordewich is an independent historian and writer. He is the author of numerous books about 18th- and 19th-century American history. He is a frequent public speaker at universities and other forums, as well as on radio and television. His writing on American history has appeared in many magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, American Heritage, The Atlantic, and others.
Thomas Donnelly is lead scholar at the National Constitution Center and a law professor at the University of Richmond. Prior to joining the Center in 2016, he served as counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, as a Climenko Fellow and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, and as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Ambro on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Additional Resources
- Fergus M. Bordewich, Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future (2026)
- Fergus M. Bordewich, Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction (2023)
- Fergus M. Bordewich, Congress at War: How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America (2020)
- Fergus M. Bordewich, The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government (2016)
- Fergus M. Bordewich, America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union (2012)
- The Hayes-Tilden Election of 1876, Live at the National Constitution Center (Oct 13, 2020)
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