An Expression of the American Mind: Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence: Lecture One 2026 Spring History Lecture Series

The Calloway County Public Library is pleased to announce the annual Murray State University Department of History and Calloway County Public Library Community Spring History Lecture Series. 

The three-part 2026 series will begin on Sunday, February 01, at 2:00 p.m. at the Calloway County Public Library, and will feature guest speaker Jim Humphreys, who will present his lecture entitled “An Expression of the American Mind”: Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.”

Jim Humphreys, professor of history at Murray State University, will discuss the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson and the document he authored.  Humphreys will place the Declaration of Independence in its eighteenth-century context by explaining the political thought of Jefferson and by illuminating the importance of the document to American efforts to overthrow British rule. He will also shed light on the meaning of the declaration in modern times and its impact on revolutionary movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Most Americans trace the founding of the United States to the Second Continental Congress’s ratification of the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the declaration and the country to which it gave birth. The author of the declaration was thirty-three-year-old Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, and one of the youngest members of the Second Continental Congress. Written fifteen months after the outbreak of the American Revolution, the document, Jefferson declared, was “an expression of the American mind.” Over time, it gained respect throughout the world as an excellent summary of Enlightenment thought; a powerful statement of the primacy of natural rights or “human rights,” as they are called today; and a forceful assertion of the prerogative and necessity of citizens to resist government tyranny in any age.

The lecture is presented free of charge and all interested community members are invited to attend.  Entry to the lecture, which will be held in CCPL’s Community Room B,  will be available through CCPL’s Northside doors. 

For more information, please email contactccpl@callowaycountylibrary.org.