I am stunned and saddened to learn via facebook today that Tony Kaye -- a fabulous scholar of the pre-Civil War era -- has passed away. Tony was working on what surely would have been a fabulously original and important book on Nat Turner. Back when I was working on that rebellion I found Tony's work on the role of African Americans around Southampton of immense use in building out the context African American resistance. His work, such as "Neighborhoods and Nat Turner: The Making of a Slave Rebel and the Unmaking of a Slave Rebellion," showed there is so much more yet to learn about the context of that episode of violence. And obviously given how much is left to learn about the Nat Turner rebellion, how much of the rest of the experience of slavery has yet to be uncovered.
Tony provided I think one of the finest set of comments I have ever had on a paper, which was about the new history of the old south -- an essay review I was putting together about a then-new set of books ranging from Annette Gordon Reed's The Hemmings of Monticello to Laura Edwards' The People and Their Peace. I was, quite frankly, astonished by and in awe of his insight. He was one thoughtful and precise scholar. I was surprised to learn that we'd been neighbors for the last year or so; he moved last year from Penn State to the National Humanities Center, as vice president of scholarly programs. I guess it's testimony to how much I've been distracted by other issues of late, or by how high institutional barriers are, or something, that I didn't know he was here.
Tony's family are in my thoughts.
Comments