Professor David W. Blight examines the character and legacy of fervent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879). Blight looks at his private character and his public image, and how his ideals and technique might be received, used, and remembered today.
Audio and video options are available.
Julie Winch discusses the highly successful African-American Remond family and their business of catering lavish parties in Boston and Newport in the 1800s. Winch focuses on the Remonds as free African Americans and supporters of abolitionism during the era of slavery.
This lecture discusses African-American social organization and antislavery activism in Antebellum Boston.
Biographer and history professor James O'Toole describes the lives of the Healy brothers, children of a multiracial slave couple, in mid-19th-century East Coast society. Three of the brothers successfully passed as white and gained prominent social positions: one as a a bishop; one as Georgetown University's president; and one as a priest, rector, and seminary director.
Author Anne Sebba follows the life of American-born Jennie Jerome, wife of Randolph Churchill and father of Winston Churchill. Sebba examines Jennie's early life, the romantic affairs that assisted her husband's career, her relationship with her son, her social reform work, and other aspects of her very active life. The presentation includes slides.
Audio and video options are available.
Professor Philip F. Gura traces the intellectual genealogy of America's first group of public intellectuals, who profoundly shaped 19th-century American literature and social reform.
Audio and video options are available. The video can be viewed with or without captions.
Curator Sally Pierce and associate curator Catharina Slautterback review the history of the Boston Atheneaum's collections of prints and photographs, beginning with the Atheneaum's founding in 1807. They look at the contents of the collections; how the items were obtained, collected, and exhibited; and what they indicate about changes in tastes and available materials over time. The presentation includes slides.
The lecture's audio is also available for download.
Library of Congress scholar-in-residence Catherine Parisian details the history of the first White House Library, founded by the 13th U.S. President, Millard Fillmore, and later dispersed. Parisian reconstructs its contents and considers its significance in 19th-century U.S. history. The presentation includes slides.
The lecture can also be downloaded as an MP3.
Biographer Charles Calhoun looks at the life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the society he encouraged and kept at his Craigie House, which included many major writers and intellectuals of the day.
The audio of this lecture is available independently as an mp3 file.
A panel of historians and political analysts discuss the experiences and history of Irish and Jewish immigrants and their descendants in Boston. The panelists look at the current population of these ethnic groups in Boston, as well.
The discussion's audio can be downloaded in mp3 format.