Always a Place for History: An Interview with Henry Wiencek

Abstract

Author Henry Wiencek is a senior research fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville. His latest book is An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America . His previous book, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White , won the 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. A narrative history of two extended families linked by history and blood, The Hairstons traces their story from colonial times to the present and examines the legacy of slavery. Wiencek was series editor of The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America . He is also the author of Old Houses, Mansions of the Virginia Gentry, Plantations of the Old South , and several books for Time-Life. With his wife, Donna Lucey, Wiencek wrote The National Geographic Guide to America's Great Houses . He has contributed articles to American Heritage, American Legacy, Smithsonian Magazine , and Connoisseur . In 2003, Wiencek was appointed to the board of the Library of Virginia.uthor Henry Wiencek is a senior research fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities in Charlottesville. His latest book is An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America . His previous book, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White , won the 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award in biography. A narrative history of two extended families linked by history and blood, The Hairstons traces their story from colonial times to the present and examines the legacy of slavery. Wiencek was series editor of The Smithsonian Guide to Historic America . He is also the author of Old Houses, Mansions of the Virginia Gentry, Plantations of the Old South , and several books for Time-Life. With his wife, Donna Lucey, Wiencek wrote The National Geographic Guide to America's Great Houses . He has contributed articles to American Heritage, American Legacy, Smithsonian Magazine , and Connoisseur . In 2003, Wiencek was appointed to the board of the Library of Virginia.