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Boston Athenaeum

The Boston Athenaeum, one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries in the United States, was founded in 1807 by members of the Anthology Society, a group of fourteen Boston gentlemen who had joined together in 1805 to edit The Monthly Anthology and Boston Review. Their purpose was to form "an establishment similar to that of the Athenaeum and Lyceum of Liverpool in Great Britain; combining the advantages of a public library [and] containing the great works of learning and science in all languages." The library and Art Gallery, established in 1827, were soon flourishing, and grew rapidly, both by purchase of books and art and by frequent gifts. For nearly half a century the Athenaeum was the unchallenged center of intellectual life in Boston, and by 1851 had become one of the five largest libraries in the United States. Today its collections comprise over half a million volumes, with particular strengths in Boston history, New England state and local history, biography, English and American literature, and the fine and decorative arts. The Athenaeum supports a dynamic art gallery, and sponsors a lively variety of events such as lectures and concerts. It also serves as a stimulating center for discussions among scholars, bibliophiles, and a variety of community interest groups.break

http://www.bostonathenaeum.org

Seen But Not Heard: Images of Children in American Art

Tue, Nov 30, 2004

In conjunction with the Fall 2004 exhibition "Seen But Not Heard: Images of Children from the Collection of the Boston Athenaeum", David Dearinger surveys the manner in which children were depicted in 19th and early 20th century American art. Artists such as Winslow Homer, Lily Martin Spencer, George Caleb Bingham, J. G. Brown, Mary Cassatt, and Robert Henri are discussed in this illustrated lecture.

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Inside a Stem Cell Laboratory

Thu, Jan 6, 2005

Ann Parson, author of the recently published *The Proteus Effect: Stem Cells and Their Promise for Medicine*, shares some basic information about stem cells and what the future holds for medicines based on them. She is joined by four postdoctoral fellows who work in one of Boston's and the country's leading stem cell research laboratories, that of George Daley, a Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital hematologist and oncologist. Each scientist describes the research project he or she is tackling and how, if successful, their work could lead to significant improvements in current medical practices. With the stem cells of humans finally isolated, researchers are entering a new era of harnessing cells to treat a variety of disorders.

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Sea of Glory: The US Exploring Expedition (1838-1842)

Thu, Jan 13, 2005

Nathaniel Philbrick explains for the first time why the US Exploring Expedition vanished from the national memory. Using new sources, including a secret journal, Philbrick reconstructs the darker saga that official reports, which focused on the "Ex Ex"' accomplishments, never told. The US Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842 was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the 19th century and one of the largest voyages of discovery the Western world had ever seen: six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds that included botanists, geologists, mapmakers, and biologists, all under the command of the young, brash lieutenant Charles Wilkes. Their goal was to cover the Pacific Ocean, top to bottom, and to plant the American flag around the world. They discovered a new southern continent, which Wilkes would name Antarctica. This was an enterprise that should have been as celebrated and revered as the expeditions of Lewis and Clark.

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French Negotiating Behavior: Dealing with La Grande Nation

Tue, Dec 7, 2004

Lecturing from his book French Negotiating Behavior, Charles Cogan explores the cultural and historical factors that have shaped the French approach and then dissects their key elements. He postulates that French negotiators often seem more interested in asserting their country's "universal" mission than in reaching an agreement, and he uses three recent case studies to illustrate this uniquely French mélange. Cogan also offers practical suggestions for making negotiations more cooperative and productive.

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Wodehouse: A Life

Tue, Dec 14, 2004

Author and editor Robert McCrumb discusses the life and works of P.G. Wodehouse, which he chronicled in detail in his biography Wodehouse: A Life. **Robert McCrum**, now literary editor of London's Observer, was the editor-in-chief of the publishing firm Faber & Faber in London for nearly 20 years. He has written six highly acclaimed novels and is the co-author of the bestselling The Story of the English. McCrum lives in London.

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Boston Sites and Insights: A Guide to Historical Landmarks

Tue, May 18, 2004

Susan Wilson's monthly column on Boston history, "Sites and Insights," first appeared in the *Boston Globe* in 1987. "The intent of the columns," Wilson writes, "was to observe Boston's rich past in a way that was both accessible to the general public and enlightening to serious students of history, and to encourage both Bostonians and Boston visitors to discover, or rediscover, the history around them." Her columns, and her passion for local history and lore, resulted in the book *Boston Sites & Insights: An Essential Guide to Historic Landmarks In and Around Boston*. Now, ten years after its initial publication, Wilson offers a completely updated and revised edition of her insider's guide to fifty historic Boston treasures. *Boston Sites & Insights* includes all "the essentials," but, unlike other guidebooks, Wilson's work digs deep into the history of the individual landmarks, from the Park Street Station, to the African Meeting House and the famously misunderstood Bunker Hill, to reveal the lesser-known stories and facts that make them unique and important pieces of Boston's past. Susan Wilson is a photographer, writer, and educator who resides in Cambridge and has long held a special affection for Boston history. The recipient of a BA and MA in history from Tufts University, Susan taught history at both the secondary school and college levels before moving into a career in journalism. Her work has regularly appeared in the *Boston Globe*, and she has most recently been busy writing books on Boston history.

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Boston's Love for Neoclassical Sculptors

Thu, May 6, 2004

David Dearinger discusses Boston's obsession with neoclassical sculpture in the 1800s. From early in its history, the city of Boston exhibited a certain awareness of culture, and a number of its citizens labored within the new republic to establish an environment in which the fine arts could flourish. Early evidence of these efforts is seen in their fascination with neoclassical sculpture. From the 1820s through the 1860s, Bostonians commissioned and purchased the finest examples of the marble (or marmorean) products of American artists who worked in this refined, classically based style. They gave much needed monetary and psychological support to many American artists, but many natives, including Thomas H. Perkins, Charles Sumner, Edward Everett, Charlotte Cushman, Harriet Lee, and several members of the Cabot, Cushing, and Appleton families, had a particular affinity for the American sculptors. These men and women formed a distinctive pool of patrons on which American sculptors, including Horatio Greenough, Thomas Crawford, Hiram Powers, and Harriet Hosmer could depend for purposeful, sincere, and even altruistic support that represents one of American art history's great aesthetic love affairs. **David Dearinger** is the Susan Morse Hilles Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Boston Athenaeum. An art historian and curator, he received his PhD, with a specialty in nineteenth-century American art, from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He taught art history in New York at Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and, for many years, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Before coming to Boston, he was Chief Curator at the National Academy of Design in New York. He has published and lectured widely on the history of American painting and sculpture.

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Fragments of Grace: My Search for Meaning in South Asia

Fri, Jun 18, 2004

Pamela Constable reads from and discusses her book, Fragments of Grace. For four and a half years, Constable, a veteran foreign correspondent and award-winning author, traveled through South Asia on assignment for the Washington Post. Following religious conflicts, political crises, and natural disasters, she also searched for signs of humanity and dignity in societies rife with violence, poverty, prejudice, and greed. Between extended sojourns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Constable returned to the West to reflect on the risks and rewards of her profession, revisit her roots, and compare her experiences with Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Her book, Fragments of Grace, is a uniquely personal exploration of the rich but solitary life of a foreign correspondent, set against a regional backdrop of extraordinary political and religious tumult. **Pamela Constable** has been covering South Asia for the Washington Postsince April 1999, spending four years as the region's bureau chief. She is the author with Arturo Valenzuela of A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet. She has been awarded an Alicia Patterson Fellowship and the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, and was a Pew International Journalism Program's journalist-in-residence.

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How Genomes and Other Forces are Changing Your Life

Thu, Dec 11, 2003

Juan Enriquez discusses his book, *As the Future Catches You*, which puts the reader face to face with a series of unprecedented political, ethical, economic, and financial issues, dramatically demonstrating the cascading impact of the genetic, digital, and intellectual revolutions of life. **Juan Enriquez** is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the economic and political impacts of life sciences. He is chairman and CEO of Biotechnology, a company dedicated to the research and funding of startups that enable the genomic revolution. Enriquez is the director of the Life Sciences Project at Harvard Business School, where he is building an interdisciplinary center focusing on how business will change as a result of the life sciences revolution.

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William Clark and the Shaping of the West

Fri, Apr 23, 2004

Landon Jones discusses the life of William Clark, and describes the dark and bloody ground of America's early West, describing how the West was won and what we gained and lost by winning it. Between 1803 and 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark co-captained a fabled expedition across the vast, largely unexplored reaches of the North American continent. Lewis ended his life three years after returning to civilization, but Clark, as the highest-ranking federal official in the West, spent three decades overseeing the consequences of the historic journey, namely, Indian removal and the destruction of Native America.

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