Stowe Prize Series: The Phillips Manuscript and “James: A Novel”

Register to Attend in Person Register to Attend Virtually The Stowe Prize Series continues with a powerful exploration of history, storytelling, and the enduring struggle for freedom. This year, we bring into conversation two remarkable works: the recently discovered Phillips Manuscript, which documents the extraordinary life of Dr. William H. Phillips, and Percival Everett’s award-winning novel James. The Phillips Manuscript will be on display at each gathering. Born enslaved in Virginia in 1841, Dr. Phillips went on to become a nationally respected minister at Shiloh Baptist Church in Philadelphia. His life touches on pivotal events of 19th-century America and illuminates the resilience, courage, and intellect of Black Americans before and after emancipation. His story resonates with the themes of Everett’s James, which reframes the story of Huck Finn through the eyes of Jim. Join Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens and Dr. Camesha Scruggs to explore medicine, health, and healing in the Phillips Manuscript and Percival Everett’s James. Through a presentation and facilitated discussion, consider how Dr. William H. Phillips’s real-life narrative and Everett’s novel deepen our understanding of history and the power of storytelling. Deirdre Cooper Owens, an award-winning historian and popular public speaker, is a professor of history in New England. Cooper Owens is a proud graduate of two historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the all-women’s Bennett College and Clark Atlanta University. She earned her Ph.D. in history at UCLA and has had a number of prestigious fellowships at the University of Virginia, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society. As one of the country’s most “acclaimed experts in U.S. history,” according to Time Magazine, Cooper Owens is steadily working towards making history more accessible and inspiring for all. Dr. Camesha Scruggs will help us think through this work and will guide our discussion as we all shape the scholarship being done around The Phillips Manuscript.