History Steward Gives Texture to the Stories That Make the Fabric of America

The Hoover Public Library's Southern Voices Festival is a popular annual literary event featuring acclaimed authors, artists, and musicians, known for its diverse lineup that started with Southern themes but now includes national bestsellers, offering author talks, panel discussions, and book signings in Hoover, Alabama. 

For this year’s program, they have invited Jon Meacham, the celebrated American writer, historian, journalist, and presidential biographer. A graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South and a former Episcopal seminarian, he rose to prominence as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of Random House.

Meacham won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House." His other best-selling works include “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” (2012), “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” (2015), “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels” (2018), and “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle” (2022).

He will speak at the Hoover Library Theatre on Friday, February 27, 2026.

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“I have known about him forever and ever,” said Carrie Steinmehl, longtime Chairwoman of the Southern Voices Festival. “I was just excited that we were able to get him because he is one of the leading historians on American History. He’s just a distinguished person all around.”

Formerly editor of Newsweek (2006–2010) and executive vice president at Random House, he is currently a contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor at Time, and Canon Historian of Washington National Cathedral. A frequent commentator on MSNBC and PBS, Meacham is known for his centrist, narrative-driven approach to American history and his emphasis on democratic resilience.

Tickets for the Friday night talk by Meacham cost $40 and will include a copy of Meacham’s latest book, “American Struggle,” which is slated to come out in January 2026.

For more information on how to experience this keynote, go here.

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