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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large free municipal library in the United States. The present Copley Square location has been home to the Library since 1895, when architect Charles Follen McKim completed his "palace for the people." Between 1870 and 1900, twenty-two additional Branches began serving communities throughout Boston's diverse neighborhoods. In 1972 the Library expanded its Copley Square location with the opening of an addition designed by Philip Johnson. Today, the McKim building houses the BPL's vast research collection and the Johnson building holds the circulating collection of the general library and serves as headquarters for the Boston Public Library's 26 branch libraries. In addition to its 6.1 million books, the library boasts over 1.2 million rare books and manuscripts, a wealth of maps, musical scores and prints. Among its large collections, the BPL holds several first edition folios by William Shakespeare, original music scores from Mozart to Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf;" and, in its rare book collection, the personal library of John Adams. Over 2.2 million patrons visit the BPL each year, many in pursuit of research material, others looking for an afternoon's reading, still others for the magnificent and unique art and architecture.break

http://www.bpl.org/

Virtual

“Nat Turner, Black Prophet: A Visionary History” with co-author Gregory P. Downs & historian Vincent Brown

6:00pm Mon, Oct 7, 2024

Join American Ancestors featured author and a guest historian-expert for an insightful discussion of Nat Turner, Black Prophet, a bold reinterpretation of the causes and legacy of Nat Turner's rebellion. This new, definitive account offers a fresh look at Black history.

In August 1831, a group of enslaved people in Southampton County, Virginia, rose up to fight for their freedom. They attacked the plantations on which their enslavers lived and attempted to march on the county seat of Jerusalem, from which they planned to launch an uprising across the South. After the rebellion was suppressed, well over a hundred people, Black and white, lay dead or were hanged. The uprising was the idea of a single man: Nat Turner. An enslaved preacher, he was as enigmatic as he was brilliant. He was also something more—a prophet, one who claimed to have received visions from the Spirit urging him to act.

With co-author Gregory P. Downs and moderator-historian Vincent Brown of Harvard, we’ll unpack how and why Nat Turner inspired the largest enslaved people’s rebellion in the US between 1811 and 1861 and became an enduring icon of resistance. Nat Turner, Black Prophet, a narrative history by the late historian Anthony E. Kaye and Downs, his collaborator, provides a new understanding of one of the nineteenth century's most decisive events.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library Ford Hall Forum
Jeffrey Rosen with The Pursuit of Happiness

Mon, Jul 8, 2024

In celebration of the July 4 holiday, watch this fascinating presentation and discussion of one phrase from the Declaration of Independence, “the pursuit of happiness.” With Jeffrey Rosen of the National Constitution Center and host of the We the People weekly podcast, we look at what this unalienable right meant to our nation’s Founders, how it defined their lives and became the foundation of our democracy.

In profiles six of our country’s most influential founders—Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton—this new, thought-filled book shows what pursuing happiness meant in their lives. It was a quest for being good, not feeling good, demonstrating a pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity. Their views were inspired by readings of the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers. More than an elucidation of the Declaration’s famous phrase; The Pursuit of Happiness is a revelatory journey into the minds of the Founders. Join us to hear from Jeffrey Rosen and gain a deep, rich, and fresh understanding of the foundation of our democracy.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

Boston Public Library American Ancestors
Author Julie Satow and Museum Curator Petra Slinkard Discuss “When Women Ran Fifth Avenue”

Tue, Aug 6, 2024

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion is a glittering portrait of the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them. Journalist Julie Satow draws back the curtain to reveal the masterminds behind the creation and shopping experience at Hortense Odlum’s Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver’s Lord & Taylor, and Geraldine Stutz’s Henri Bendel.

The twentieth century American department store was a palace of consumption where every wish could be met under one roof – afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the store buildings, but inside, women ruled. In this hothouse atmosphere, three women and their department stores rose to the top, Hortense Odlum (Bonwit Teller), Dorothy Shaver (Lord & Taylor), and Geraldine Stutz (Henri Bendel). They took great risks and forged new paths for the women who followed in their footsteps. Her new book captures the department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round.

Join us for this stylish account, an illustrated presentation by the author followed by a discussion with fashion curator Petra Slinkard.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library
Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery, Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier

Tue, Jun 11, 2024

Historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor Joseph McGill Jr. has logged more than 200 nights sleeping in slave dwellings at historic sites in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia. In this enlightening personal account, he tells the story of his groundbreaking Slave Dwelling project. His quest to share the experience of the enslaved took him throughout the South, but also the North and the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist.

With journalist Herb Frazier, McGill reveals the fascinating history behind these sites and sheds light on larger issues of race in America.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library
The Music of Civil Rights, from Strange Fruit to The Roots

Wed, May 22, 2024

Music has always been central to the African American quest for freedom. The Civil Rights struggle and its music provided some of America’s most powerful calls of hope, moral clarity, and equity.

During the 19th century, spirituals such as Steal Away carried coded protest. In the 20th century, protest became explicit. In the 1930s Ethel Waters sang an anti-lynching song that shocked Broadway and Billie Holiday bravely recorded the stinging song Strange Fruit. Duke Ellington’s long career spoke for racial respect and civil rights in such pieces as Black Beauty and [Martin Luther] King Fit the Battle of Alabam’.

As political action picked up and in the 1950s and 1960s, We Shall Overcome became the clarion anthem of the Civil Rights movement and central to America’s moral quest for “a more perfect Union.” Old songs like This Little Light of Mine took on new meaning and fresh songs appeared such as If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus. Black and white activists alike sang Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind. And great artists—such as Sam Cooke (A Change is Gonna Come), The Impressions (People Get Ready), James Brown (Say It Loud), Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, on up to The Roots—all sang to advance respect and equality.

Dr. John Edward Hasse, long-time music curator at the Smithsonian and Duke Ellington’s biographer, plays stirring video clips of these songs that inspired, motivated, and advocated for what Martin Luther King called for in his “I have a dream” speech: that we all be judged not by the color of our skin, “but by the content of our character.” He also plays works by W.C. Handy and Duke Ellington that helped lay the musical foundation for the Civil Rights movement.

Links to the media, Dr. Hasse refers too:
Duke Ellington - Black Beauty
Billie Holiday – Strange Fruits I have a dream – Martin Luther King – August 1963
“Go Tell It On the Mountain/ Let My People Go” Fannie Lou Hamer – Greenwood, Mississippi- 1963
This Little Light of Mine
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
We Shall Overcome People Get Ready, Curtis Mayfield
Nina Simone, I Wish I Knew
Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam, 1964
An artist’s duty – Nina Simone
Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind
Sam Cooke, A Change is Gonna Come
Eddie Harris, Freedom Jazz Dance
Duke Ellington – King Fit the Battle of Alabam’ Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), 1971
Isley Brothers, Freedom, 1970
Black pride: James Brown, 1968
Bon Jovi, American Reckoning
I can’t breathe – Deitrick Haddon
The Roots, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around

Forum Network

Revolutionary Music - Music and Social Change

Partner:

Boston Public Library
How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America

Tue, May 14, 2024

As part of our "Revolutionary Music: Music for Social Change" programmatic theme, join the Boston Public Library and American Ancestors in-person or online for talk about a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, burst through racial barriers to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.

About the book
The Jazzmen is the story of three revolutionary American musicians, the maestro jazzmen who orchestrated the chords that throb at the soul of twentieth-century America. Larry Tye paints a vivid and immersive portrait of the birth of jazz, highlighting the resilience of its trailblazers as they opened America’s ears and souls to the magnificence of their melodies. Each insisted he was a music maker first and last, when in reality all three were cultural and racial insurgents.

There will be time for Q&A from both in-person and online audiences. After the main program ends at approximately 7 PM, there will be an author signing facilitated by local independent bookstore partner Trident Booksellers and Cafe.

Online attendees will have a chance to order copies from another local independent bookstore partner (Porter Square Books) during the main program (6 - 7 PM).

Forum Network

Revolutionary Music - Music and Social Change

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library
In Person

Virtual

June Millington & Emm Gryner: Music & Activism

3:00pm Sat, Oct 19, 2024

Join rock pioneer June Millington and acclaimed indie artist Emm Gryner for an enlightening discussion and performance.

June Millington—guitarist and founding member of all-female rock band Fanny—will converse with Emm Gryner—independent singer/songwriter, bassist, and pianist—about Fanny, music, and activism. The main content will conclude with a musical performance.

This program is part of our Lowell Lecture Series and our “Revolutionary Music: Music for Social Change” programmatic theme.

Lectures

Revolutionary Music - Music and Social Change

Partner:

Boston Public Library
Brooke Kroeger with Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism

Thu, Mar 7, 2024

Two journalist-professors discuss the history of women in American journalism from 1840 to the present; and the new book Undaunted, which showcases the exceptional careers of such impactful reporters as Margaret Fuller, Rachel Carson, Joan Didion, and Martha Gellhorn.

Join us in Women’s History Month to examine the lives of some of the best-remembered and long-forgotten woman journalists, standout reporters who covered the major news stories and every conflict at home and abroad since before the Civil War. In addition to chronicling the careers of journalists and newsroom leaders, Undaunted explores the larger story: the nearly two-centuries-old struggle for women’s rights as it manifests in a field where women have never found easy welcome. The book documents their collective fight for equity from the gentle stirrings of the late 1800s to the work, actions, and pronouncements of celebrated journalists such as Ida Tarbell, Ida B. Wells, and Kate Masterson as the century turned, on to Pauline Frederick, Anne O'Hare McCormick, Martha Gelhorn, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault in the first half of the 20th; through the legal battles of the 1970s to the #MeToo movement and onward. With Tracy Lucht, Kroeger will discuss the huge and singular impact women have had on this vital profession still dominated by men.

This program is presented by the American Inspiration Series from American Ancestors/NEHGS and presented in partnership with with the Boston Public Libraryand the GBH Forum Network.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library
Benjamin Taylor with Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather

Tue, Jan 9, 2024

Celebrating one of America’s greatest female novelists, this biography brings to life Willa Cather -- her artistry and endurance, her immigrant family and the prairies on they lived, and her trailblazing success as a journalist and writer.

In the early 20^th century, Willa Cather leapt into the forefront of American letters with the publication of her novels O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Antonia (1918). At the time, she was well into middle age. Her success followed years of working in journalism in Nebraska, brief spells of teaching, and editorial work on magazines. Chasing Bright Medusas is her story told by of another mature and highly accomplished writer, the award-winning biographer Benjamin Taylor, a lifelong lover of Willa Cather’s work. Taylor’s elegant exploration of her artistic endurance and of her early years and family, bring us back in time to portray vividly the challenges of being an immigrant family, a woman, and a literary trailblazer -- one the greatest authors of the twentieth century.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

American Ancestors Boston Public Library
Author Talk: Neil King, Jr. with American Ramble

Tue, Dec 12, 2023

Hear from the author of a revelatory memoir about a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City—an unforgettable pilgrimage to the heart of America across some of our oldest common ground.

Neil King Jr.’s desire to walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City began as a whim and soon became an obsession. By the spring of 2021, events had intervened that gave his desire greater urgency. His neighborhood still reeled from the January 6th insurrection. Covid lockdowns and a rancorous election had deepened America’s divides. Neil himself bore the imprints of a long battle with cancer.

Determined to rediscover what matters in life and to see our national story with new eyes, Neil turned north with a small satchel on his back and one mission in mind: To pay close attention to the land he crossed and the people he met.

What followed is an extraordinary 26-day journey through historic battlefields and cemeteries, over the Mason-Dixon line, past Quaker and Amish farms, along Valley Forge stream beds, atop a New Jersey trash mound, across New York Harbor, and finally, to his ultimate destination: the Ramble, where a tangle of pathways converges in Central Park. The journey travels deep into America’s past and present, uncovering forgotten pockets and overlooked people. At a time of mounting disunity, the trip reveals the profound power of our shared ground.

This program is part of the American Inspiration Series from American Ancestors/NEHGS and presented in partnership with with the Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library and the GBH Forum Network.

Forum Network

American Inspiration Author Series

Partner:

Boston Public Library American Ancestors

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