We have had to cancel the lecture due to our lecturer's travel problems. Please check back soon for information on the rescheduled lecture date.
Thursday, April 15th
Graham Russell Gao Hodges David Ruggles: A Radical Black Abolitionist and the
Underground Railroad in New York City.
Ruggles was of one of the
best known "conductors" on the UGRR, and crucially tied together many
branches of the abolition movement, radicalizing many participants;
William Jay supported him financially, personally and professionally.
Mr. Hodges has written and edited more than a dozen other books,
including Root & Branch: African Americans in New York and East
Jersey, 1613-1863; he is the George Dorland Langdon, Jr. Professor
of History and Africana Studies at Colgate University. The first lecture, on February 4, featured Barnet Schecter discussing his book The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America. During those riots, John Jay II, a prominent New York Republican, pleaded unsuccessfully with Lincoln to declare martial law and put down the violence which nearly destroyed the city.
CANCELLED, WILL BE RESCHEDULED. The second lecture in the series, on March 18, was to feature Cliff Sloan, discussing his book The Great Decision:
Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court. Mr. Sloan, a former Supreme Court clerk and former publisher of
Slate magazine, is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &
Flom, in Washington, D.C. He has litigated at all levels of federal and
state courts, including five U.S. Supreme Court arguments, and comments
regularly on Supreme Court developments, including recently on the
Colbert Report. His co-author David McKean is former Staff Director for
the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and was recently named
CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; he is also author of
Tommy the Cork: Washington's Ultimate Insider from Roosevelt to Reagan,
and co-author of Friends in High Places: The Rise and Fall of Clark
Clifford.
Lectures are held in the Ballroom at John Jay Homestead State Historic Site at 7:00 p.m. (registration beginning at 6:30 p.m.), and followed by a short reception and book-signing. Reservations are recommended. Click here to download the PDF of the invitation. For more information about the lecture series, or to receive an invitation, please call the Friends office at (914) 232-8119; email friends@johnjayhomestead.org.
PAST ADULT LECTURES
Farmerettes Lecture November 12, 2009
On November 12, the John Jay Homestead hosted a capacity crowd for a lecture by Elaine Weiss, discussing her book Fruits of Victory: the Woman's Land Army of America in the Great War. As lecture Chair Melissa Vail said in her introduction, the crowd included descendants of Farmerettes' employers, descendants of the original Farmerettes, and current Bedford Farmerettes. They are all strong and autonomous women who work and care for the land. Members of every garden club that maintains a garden at the Homestead -- Bedford Garden Club, Hopp Ground Garden Club, the New York Unit of the Herb Society of America and Rusticus -- attended, along with members of the Bedford Farmer's Club, and volunteers from the Bedford Hills Historical Museum and the Bedford Historical Society. Thanks to funding from all these organizations, the program was free and open to the public.
Annual Goodhue Lecture by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. October 2, 2009
The Goodhue Lecture, which took place on Friday, October 2, featured Henry Louis Gates, Jr., speaking to a capacity crowd on "Genetics and Genealogy in American and African American History." Dr. Gates spoke about his early fascination with his own ancestry, and noted that through DNA analysis he has traced his own heritage, discovering that his ancestry is barely more than half African. "Imagine," he said, "the head of African American Studies at Harvard is nearly half white!"
Mr. Gates showed a portion of his PBS documentaries "African-American Lives I and II," co-produced by Peter Kunhardt and Dyllan McGee of Kunhardt McGee Productions. During the clip, he interviewed several renowned black Americans, chosen he said to represent different occupations and different shades of skin. All participants discovered surprises in their ancestry -- tragedy or heroism involving an ancestor, or an absence of traceable connection to an African tribe he or she had identified with. One thing he has found out through the process of researching and creating this documentary is that "everyone is moved by finding an ancestor."
The talk was followed by a wine-and-cheese reception and book signing. Guests stayed for another 45 minutes, visiting the period rooms, talking with each other, and waiting for Dr. Gates to sign their copies of In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, his 2009 book summarizing the work presented in the documentaries.
The annual Goodhue Lecture is dedicated to the memory of Mary B. Goodhue, a former state legislator and Trustee of Friends of John Jay Homestead. Because of the extraordinary appeal of the speaker, the lecture, normally a members-only event, was open to the public. The Scholars Committee, chaired by Melissa Vail, is organizing the upcoming lecture series scheduled for spring 2010. Please see Upcoming Lectures section above for lecture dates and other specifics.
2009 John Jay Lecture Series: A New Look at Three American Presidents
Starting with Andrew Jackson, whose contributions to American history was discussed by David S. Reynolds, author and Professor of English and American Studies at the CUNY Graduate School, the 2009 lecture series included authors who have written books about Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. Prof. Reynolds spoke on February 4th about his book "Waking Giants: America in the Age of Jackson." On February 15, Philip Kunhardt, a local resident who teaches history at Bard College spoke about his book, "Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon." Lastly, on April 1, Annette Gordon-Reed, a Professor at New York Law School and history professor at Rutgers, discussed her book "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family." The most exciting news is that Ms. Reed just won the National Book Award in non-fiction for her book on the Hemings family and Thomas Jefferson. It is undoubtedly a worthwhile read, so buy your copy.
All three of the lectures took place on Wednesday evenings in the Ballroom at the John Jay Homestead, starting with a reception and book signing at 6:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 7 p.m. Ticket prices for all lectures are $15 for members; $20 for non-members. For more information on our future lectures, call (914) 232-8119, email friends@johnjayhomestead.org.
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SCHOLARS COMMITTEE:
Melissa Vail - Chair
Carol and Thomas Brier, John M. Greenwood, The Hon. Donald P. Gregg, Timothy B. Harwood, James F. Henry, Alexia and Jerry Jurschak, Brian F. Landry, Bonnie and Piers MacDonald, Silvia and Steve Ohler, Robert Saunders, Timothy P. Schieffelin, Roger G. Schwartz, John Stockbridge, Kate and Tom Terry, James E. Walker, III, John and Caroline Walker
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