Mary Grabar, Resident Fellow, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI), is keeping a bustling schedule. She accepted an award, gave an online lecture to a college class, participated in numerous radio and podcast interviews, and wrote a 35-page appendix for the paperback edition of her latest  book Debunking The 1619 Project, which was released on August 23. Her book continues to earn praise, notably in the spring issue of the premier scholarly journal of the Claremont Institute, the Claremont Review of Books. Grabar’s book was featured in Daniel J. Mahoney’s essay, “The 1619 Lesson,” a review of the hardcover edition of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, an expansion of the original New York Times Magazine version.

Mary Grabar, AHI Resident Fellow

Calling Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America “the most comprehensive critique of the 1619 Project to date,” Mahoney praised it for “expertly” refuting The 1619 Project, which he regarded as a “lazy polemic” and that included a “character assassination” of Abraham Lincoln. Grabar’s chapter, “Taking Down Abraham Lincoln,” laid “out Lincoln’s true positions regarding Union and liberty.  . . . Grabar appreciates that as a statesman Lincoln had to negotiate with “free soil” Northerners who really were racist and anti-slavery. Through the art of prudence, he needed to renew the American people’s fidelity to their highest moral and civic principles.” Similarly, Grabar’s investigations, according to Mahoney, showed 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones’s characterization of Frederick Douglass “as an unremittingly bitter critic of Lincoln” to be false. “Douglass called Lincoln his friend, recognizing that the president had treated him with great respect. He acknowledged that Lincoln ‘loathed slavery,’ though prudence held him back from eradicating it as swiftly and unilaterally as Douglass would have liked.” As Grabar points out, Douglass was “filled with grief” upon learning of Lincoln’s assassination.

On May 17, Mary traveled to the Washington, D.C. area and was honored with the receipt of the George Washington Award.  She joined fellow award winners North Carolina’s Lt. Governor Mark Robinson; Virginia’s Lt. Governor Winsome Sears; Jason C. Johnson, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund; and Mark Gonzales, United States Hispanic Prayer Network. The award for Mary’s two books was given by Bishop E.W. Jackson, founder of the S.T.A.N.D. Foundation, Staying True to America’s National Destiny, whose mission is “to unite Americans as one nation under God.” In addition to his community ministry, Bishop Jackson hosts the American Family Radio program “The Awakening” and regular forums and prayers for the nation.

The release on August 23, of the paperback version of Debunking The 1619 Project with a 35-page appendix debunking the claims of scholarliness in the hardcover edition has brought dozens of requests for radio, podcast, and print interviews. Mary has been interviewed for nineteen radio programs and podcasts and has several more scheduled in the weeks ahead. Matt Lamb’s interview of Grabar about the current plight of historical scholarship was featured in the Editors’ Corners at The College Fix on August 31.

Last semester, Mary gave an online guest lecture for Professor Daymon Johnson’s American History class at Bakersfield College. Her scholarship is cited in recent books, Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education by Luke Rosiak and Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation by Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who had also interviewed her for his Miseducation documentary.

“I am so gratified by the fact that my work is helping to counter the myths and lies about American history, and I am honored by the praise and recognition of some of our country’s premier scholars,” said Mary. “As always, I cannot express in adequate terms my gratitude to the support of The AHI. It was absolutely essential.”