[laughter] guest i think we have so little perspective on this moment that it is quite impossible to say. I think the perception that many people in the United States and, of course, also around the world have that this is an extraordinary uni shall time is something that we are in a time out of time will be a curiosity in the future. People will look back and wonder about that very sense i think it is kind of an interesting phenomenon. I think that will be studied. Host when you think about today, do you compare it to any other period in history . Guest no, you know, as a historian, im interested in analogies. I think we have a cognitive tendency to enjoy analogies to find one thing to be like another, all the time, just in the same way, you know, im the kind of person that sees likenesses in family members. I look at a new baby and say oh that looks just like great grandma so and so. But at the same time, even as i say that, i recognize that a lot of that is my need for familiarity.
Many our beautiful robert h. Smith auditorium this morning. Todays program, Frederick Douglass, abraham again and emancipation. Would like to thank our great trustee and benefactor, arnold schwartz, for his generosity and aking this event and many of our Public Programs possible. [applause] id also like to recognize and thank one of our trustees who has joined us today, david light. I want to recognize laura ashington and Mercedes Franklin who are cochairs of our Frederick Douglass counsel. Thank you to all members who have joined us today. [applause] and i want to recognize a longstanding and special friend of New York Historical who has joined us this morning. And thank him for all that he and his family have done over a very, very long time that institution. Thank you. [applause] this Mornings Program will last about an hour and a half and it a question and answer session. You should have received a note card and a pencil as you entered this morning. If not, my colleagues are going
Exactly five years after american aviator Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the atlantic ocean, earhart became the first woman to repeat that feat. We are thrilled to welcome dorothy cochrane, curator in the economics department. Secure is the collection of general aviation aircraft, flight material, aerial cameras, and the history of general aviation and women in aviation. She is the coauthor of the aviation careers of igor as well as an essay on Amelia Earhart that is included in the published book smithsonian american women. She earned her private pilot license in 1994 and is a member of the aircraft owners and Pilot Association and experimental aircraft association. So now please join me in welcoming dorothy cochrane. [applause] dorothy good evening, everyone. Thank you so much. Can you use the mic . Dorothy all right, i it is am. Supposed to be on. Can you hear me now . It is a pleasure to be here. I thank the Smithsonian Associates for inviting me. As i
Frees 3100 enslaved individuals. For the past year as war raged between the union and the confederacy opponents of slavery had decried the scandal of slavery continuing to exist within the Nations Capital. Eight and a half month later, president lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation which did not free all enslaved persons but sent a powerful signal that slavery would no longer be tolerated. The emancipation proclamation has assumed a place among the greatest arguments of human freedom. The story of the emancipation proclamation is one that would help to redefine freedom and eventually change the course of history. Both the proclamation and the d. C. Legislation represent a promise of hope, freedom, and justice that continues to inspire and resonate with the American People more than 150 years after its creation. Now its my pleasure to welcome the reverend thomas brown to the stage. He is the director of the office of religious affairs and the executive office of the mayor. And t
The record will show that on october 27th, 1947, a subcommittee of the house on American Activities Committee met with the chairman, dishonorable Parnell Thomas presiding. The house on American Activities Committee is in session. Let yourself go. You, sir, are not even subpoenaed to testify here. Yeah, im going to speak anyway. Very well, mr. Dreyfuss. My name is Richard Dreyfuss. And im a child of the blacklist. I was not my parents were not in show business but they were the victims of the blacklist nonetheless. I lived on 218 street in bay side, queens and every house on that block was lived in by a communist or a socialist. And if you have not fought hitler twice and not gone to the Abraham Lincoln brigade, you better have a dam good reason. When i was a young boy i turned to my mom and i said im the luckiest kid in the world and she said why . I said because im white, jewish and american. And she said its time you came into the meetings. And when i was about 10, i turned to a frie