One of America’s most prolific and preeminent historians, University of Texas Professor H.W. Brands, will speak on the topic: “America: The Next 250 Years,” at 7 p.m., March 20, 2025, at the Anchorage Museum. The author of thirty books, including two that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, Brands is a regular guest on national and international media outlets. His most recent book is, America First – Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War, which recounts the fierce debate over entering World War II through its two most important figures.

Brands’ visit to Alaska is part of the Alaska Historical Society’s Critical Issues Lecture Series designed to raise the level of civil discourse. His museum presentation is co-sponsored by the Cook Inlet Historical Society and funded by a grant from the Atwood Foundation. While in Alaska, he also will meet with history students at the University of Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks, with Anchorage high school history students and with 49 Writers.

A Portland, Oregon native, Brands studied math and history at Stanford University. After graduating, he worked as a traveling salesman over a territory that spanned the Pacific to Colorado. For nine years he taught mathematics and history in high school and community college. He earned a doctorate in history at the University of Texas at Austin. He worked as an oral historian at the University of Texas Law School for a year, then became a visiting professor of history at Vanderbilt University. In 1987 he joined the history faculty at Texas A&M University, where he taught for seventeen years. In 2005 he returned to the University of Texas, where he holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in history. In addition to his books and articles, Brands publishes a regular column, A Users Guide to History, on Substack.com.

These presentations are virtual, free, and open to the public via Crowdcast; the same link can be used to review the recorded event after the program conclusion. Those attending in person should use the 7th Avenue entrance to access the auditorium.

Cook Inlet Historical Society Lecture Series Presents- America: The Next 250 Years with H.W. Brands