Author of Seward book to speak at Union's Founders Day

Walter Stahr, left, will speak today at Union about his new book on the life of William Henry Seward.

SCHENECTADY ? William Henry Seward?s college alma mater is joining Hollywood and the publishing world in putting the 19th-century politician in the spotlight.

The New York native was Abraham Lincoln?s secretary of state during the Civil War. Seward, as portrayed by David Strathairn, figures prominently in Steven Spielberg?s Oscar-nominated film ?Lincoln,? and Seward?s story is told in a new biography written by Walter Stahr of Exeter, N.H.

Seward is the focus of the keynote address Stahr will give this afternoon at Union College as part of the Founders Day celebration. Seward graduated from Union in 1820 and several years later joined a law firm in Auburn in central New York.

Stahr's keynote address will be held at 12:45 p.m. in Memorial Chapel. Founders Day commemorates the 218th anniversary of the college?s charter.

To read a review of Stahr's book in the New Yorker magazine, click here.

According to USA Today, Stahr "argues convincingly that other than presidents, Seward was the foremost American statesman of the 19th century."

Source: http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2013/feb/21/author-seward-book-speak-union-today/

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