Boston College professor Kevin Kenny discusses his book Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment with University of Iowa professor Marshall Poe. The book looks at the downfall of Quaker William Penn's ideal of peaceful coexistence between Native Americans and colonists.
From the Constitution Center website:
"2009 marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most dramatic concerts in American history: world famous African American contralto Marian Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. In a conversation moderated by scholar Sheldon Hackney, award-winning historian Raymond Arsenault tells the story of Marian Anderson, one of the most enduring and iconic figures of the civil rights movement. Through immense raw talent and unrelenting determination, Anderson overcame racial prejudice to inspire all Americans and to become one of the greatest singers of her time."
To listen to this lecture, scroll to the August 12th, 2009, program.
From the Civil War Traveler website:
"Late in the evening on Oct. 16, 1859, John Brown and a small band of insurgents entered Harpers Ferry (then Virginia), planning to ignite and arm a slave insurrection. This tour covers raid-related sites in the national park at Harpers Ferry (now West Virginia)."
From the Civil War Traveler website:
"Following the capture of Burnside Bridge over the Antietam Creek Sept. 17, 1862, the Union 9th Corps still had its work cut out. This tour covers the final Federal attack that day and the dramatic Confederate counterattack that saved the day for Lee's army."
Alice Kessler-Harris reads a paper by John Hopkins University's Blanche Wiesen Cook at the Organization of American Historians 2009 meeting. The paper relates Cook's experiences as a John Hopkins student during the civil rights movement, fighting for desegregation.
Wendy Wick Reaves looks at two self-portraits by the artist Isabel Bishop (1902-1988), who focused on portraying women in the New York urban environment she worked in.
Donald L. Miller examines the rise of capitalism and the impulse to reform in American history from 1882 to 1901. Topics include New York as the financial capital of the U.S., Jacob Riis's photographic documentation of the Lower East Side slums, John Pierpont Morgan and his push for merging companies into corporations, the mining industry in Pennsylvania and worker abuse within it, and labor organization in response to this abuse.
Laura Cohen Apelbaum and Wendy Turman of the Jewish Historical Society look at the life of Jewish Americans in Washington, DC during the Civil War.
Donald L. Miller, with Pauline Maier and Virginia Scharff, follow the growth of the British American colonies from 1663 to 1763, examining the expansion of the economy (and of the slave trade), population increase, the development of slave culture, social structure (particularly in the city of Philadelphia), political trends, the life of Benjamin Franklin, and the French and Indian War.
Eric Langhorst, Missouri eighth-grade history teacher, reviews the Newseum in Washington, DC, describing his April 2009 visit.