On Tuesday, March 31, the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College will host former Wall Street Journal reporter and author Lee Hawkins to deliver the annual Henry M. Scharf Memorial Lecture. Hawkins’ keynote address will focus on his book I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free (HarperCollins, 2025), a critically acclaimed memoir tracing 400 years of his family through slavery, Jim Crow apartheid, and their intergenerational effects.
The lecture will be followed by an audience-engaged conversation between Hawkins and Eisenhower Institute Executive Director Tracie Potts. Their discussion will explore politics and polarization in America and how liberal and conservative mentors helped shape Hawkins into an original thinker who embraces ideological diversity.
The event will take place in Mara Auditorium, Masters Hall at 7:00 p.m.
Hawkins’ book is currently nominated for the 2026 NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Non-Fiction). It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal, was an Oprah Daily Black History Month pick, and an Amazon Editors’ Pick. He also created and produced the 2024 APM/MPR podcast What Happened in Alabama?, named a “Best Podcast of the Year” by The Guardian and Audible, and a Top-25 Apple Podcasts show.
A 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist during his 19 years at The Wall Street Journal, Hawkins reports across print, audio, and video, using DNA analysis, genealogy, and oral history to surface buried truths. His honors include the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism, the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism, and six National Association of Black Journalists “Salute to Excellence” awards. Raised in Minnesota’s historic Rondo community, he writes toward truth, healing, and repair.
Raised in Maplewood, Minnesota, and the historic Rondo community of St. Paul, Hawkins has long been a committed advocate for nonviolent social change inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He organized annual MLK birthday marches and received the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Minnesota’s King Holiday Commission. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he served as editorial page editor of The Badger Herald and twice served on the Board of Visitors of UW’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
The lecture is open to students, faculty, and members of the community.
The Henry M. Scharf Memorial Lecture on Current Affairs, established in 1977 by Dr. F. William Sunderman (Class of 1919), honors his longtime friend Henry Scharf (Class of 1925), builder of the Majestic Theater—a venue frequented by President and Mrs. Eisenhower while in Gettysburg. Within the broad focus of current events, the annual lecture series has hosted many distinguished speakers.
The Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College connects aspiring young leaders with public policy experts to discover their passion and tackle society’s most challenging issues. The institute is nonpartisan and inspired by President Eisenhower’s approach of engaging diverse people and ideas to find common ground and take action.
