Kenneth Stampp, a revered but relatively unknown (to the general public) historian, passed away at age 96 this week.

As his obituary in the NY Times amply demonstrates, Stampp refused to accept and prolong the commonly accepted wisdom of America’s long interlude with slavery, and by being so obstinate, changed our understanding of the “peculiar institution” and its impact on those caught in its thrall.

I think Stamp is worth honoring for another reason: his scholarly appraisal of slavery and Reconstruction drives a sharp stake in the arguments of those who assert that history, as recounted by western European and white American scholars, is nothing more than an attempt to whitewash (pun deliberate) the irredeemable stain of slavery on our national narrative. Stampp was white, from the whiter still Midwest, but his investigations of written and oral sources produced two landmark works that completely overturned conventional thought about the enslaved and their ability to function as normal human beings.

It takes bravado to go against the grain in any endeavor. But when you are armed with facts, and willing to see the past with a full, 360-degree lens, your work will stand the test of time.