Editor’s Note: On June 7, the legendary historian Gordon Wood died after being struck by a car in East Providence. He was 92 years old. Wood taught at Brown University for 39 years. He was the author of ten books, and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History, in 1993, as well as a National Humanities Medal, in 2010. This essay is one of two tributes that the Eye received after news broke of Wood’s passing.
I am deeply blessed to have known four of America’s leading historians: Henry Louis Gates, Taylor Branch, David Blight, and Gordon Wood. Last October, Dr. Wood and I met at the Brown University Faculty Club to discuss our nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary. As always, nothing energized him more than analyzing the foundation of this country. For the nearly thirty years I knew him, he has been a brilliant champion of the American Revolution.
During our conversation, I reminded him that while I love this country, I am acutely aware of its flaws. We discussed our differing viewpoints, and I noted that one of my greatest joys is engaging with people more conservative than I am. To me, Gordon Wood was an exceptionally honest observer of a society moving toward perfection at a very slow, deliberate pace.
While I love this country, I am never blind to its faults. As a member of the Rhode Island parole board for three years, I saw our societal flaws daily—particularly in the tragic, preventable vehicular deaths, such as that which took Dr. Wood’s life. I consistently voted to not reduce the sentences of drivers convicted of these offenses. No one should lose their life in a grocery store parking lot.
Gordon Wood, a recipient of the National Humanities Medal, dedicated his life to illuminating the Revolutionary Era. The true tragedy of his passing is that he will not be here to celebrate his life’s work during our historic semiquincentennial year.
Ray Rickman is the Executive Director of Stages of Freedom and a Board Member of the RI250 Commission.
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