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Distinguished African-American Minister Stakes Claim On The Pilgrims

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Harvard Divinity School professor, Peter Gomes, is regarded as one of the most distinguished ministers in America. But he's also one of the country's foremost scholars on all things Pilgrim, first penning an article on them for Encyclopedia Britannica in high school.

As an African-American who grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts, he was mesmerized by the lives of the Pilgrims, and is possibly the only African-American to enter the cloistered world of the prestigious Pilgrim Society. We revisit our conversation with Rev. Gomes where he talks about growing up in Plymouth and why he feels the story of the Pilgrims belongs to him.

In this video, Peter Gomes recites the 1935 poem, “The D.A.R. lings…” written by Arthur Guiterman for “The New Yorker.”

This segment aired on November 24, 2010.

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