BEDFORD HOUSE IS CLOSED FOR HISTORIC RESTORATION.
Our Red Barn Discovery Center is open on Saturdays from 10am-2pm through October.
Lecture with Michael Waldman
- March 27, 2024
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Michael Waldman, The Fight to Vote
The Fight to Vote traces the expansion of voting rights in this country from the very limited allowances in the Founding period to the contested and contentious present. Michael Waldman is a constitutional lawyer and writer, and since 2005 the President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving systems of democracy and justice. He has written many many other books and articles, including most recently Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, which we expect he will discuss too.
This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.
6:30 – Reception with light refreshments
7:00 – Lecture begins
8:00 – Book signing
Purchase in-person tickets here.
Purchase virtual tickets here.
Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.
- March 27, 2024
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Lecture with Eliga Gould
- April 18, 2024
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Eliga Gould, Crucible of Peace: The Turbulent History of America’s Founding Treaty
John Jay was the third member (along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams) of the Peace Commission which produced the treaty ending the Revolution and definitively established the independence of the “United States.” Eliga Gould, Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, calls this Treaty of Paris “the third founding document, equal in importance to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” He has won multiple prizes for his other books, and multiple fellowships for his work. Note: this book is still a work in progress!
This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.
6:30 – Reception with light refreshments
7:00 – Lecture begins
8:00 – Book signing
Purchase in-person tickets here.
Purchase virtual tickets here.
Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.
- April 18, 2024
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Lecture with The Hon. Stephen G. Breyer
- May 7, 2024
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
The Hon. Stephen G. Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism
Nominated by President Clinton, Justice Breyer served on the Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was preceded by Justice Harry Blackmun and succeeded by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; he wrote 551 opinions during that 28-year career. Before the Supreme Court, he served on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1980-1994) including four years as Chief Judge; before that he held many government positions, including assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. He is currently the Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process at Harvard Law School. Virtually all discussions of his career mention that he was an Eagle Scout.
This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.
6:00 – Reception with light refreshments
6:30 – Lecture begins
7:30 – Book signing
Purchase in-person tickets here.
Purchase virtual tickets here.
Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.
- May 7, 2024
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
This month we are taking a brief look at the interesting life of John Jay’s brother, James Jay. Born into a large family, James was 13 years older than John, and left home to begin his medical studies in Edinburgh around the time of John’s birth in 1745. It is doubtful the boys ever had…
Read MoreJuly – Olive Branch Petition In the early years during the conception of American independence, when the flames of revolution were ablaze and the fate of the new nation hung in the balance, a group of patriots sought to pursue reconciliation with their British counterparts. One of the key figures behind this bold endeavor was…
Read MoreThis month we are digging into the story of Colonel William Jay and his trusted horse ‘Old Fred.’ William and Fred survived numerous harrowing battles together during the American Civil War. On the property at John Jay Homestead is a gravestone that William had made for Fred that provides us with a written record of…
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