Archives: Special Events

John Trumbull saw the American Revolution firsthand, including being shot at and jailed as a spy.  He was seen by his contemporaries as a painter, but he thought of himself as a historian, wanting “to preserve and diffuse the memory of the noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man.”  He knew John Jay well, having served as his secretary during the negotiations of the Jay Treaty, and he painted the only portrait in the Homestead’s collection that Jay actually sat for (the rest are copies).

In 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, John Scopes was charged with breaking the new law that banned the teaching of evolution in public schools.  His trial became an international sensation, with brilliant and famous personalities – one, a former presidential candidate – representing the opposing sides during the so-called Roaring Twenties.  Keeping the Faith brings to life this trial, its combatants, and the way it exposed profound divisions in America that still resonate today, over the meaning of freedom, religion, education, and civil liberties in a democracy.

Under New York’s 1799 Gradual Abolition scheme, a child born to an enslaved mother (as of a certain date) was deemed “free,” but had to continue as the servant of the mother’s owner until the age of 25 (for a girl) or 28 (for a boy).  Gronningsater develops a deeply researched picture of the lives, politics, and legal efforts of this generation of Black children of ambiguous status, and how they combined with others to help shape important changes to the U.S. Constitution as well as groundbreaking state and Federal civil rights legislation.

Yes, new media forms have always had the power to turn people against each other with misinformation and disinformation (Brill begins with Cleopatra). But The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World–And What We Can Do argues that current politics and technologies take that power “from the slingshot age to the nuclear age.” Thankfully, he also offers solutions to the problems that modern media present.

Clara Bingham is a journalist and author whose work has focused on social justice and women’s issues. Her latest book, The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973, is a history of the early years of second wave feminism. As a Washington, D.C. correspondent for Newsweek from 1989 to 1993, Bingham covered the George H. W. Bush White House leading up to and during the 1992 presidential election. Her freelance writing has appeared in publications including Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and more. Moderated by Nancy Steiner.