THIRTEEN Forum » history

The Impact of Listening and Being Heard

Chie Witt — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:57:06 +0000

For some veterans it takes years before they choose to speak about their war experiences. And some veterans never do. What happens when veterans finally share their stories? How does it feel to be heard? And how are we, as listeners, affected? This discussion is moderated by Philip Napoli, curator of the oral history exhibit “In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn’s Vietnam Veterans,” at the Brooklyn Historical Society; and by Amy Starecheski, author of Telling Lives: Oral History Curriculum Guide. Participants include Dr. Herbert H. Stein, Director of the PTSD Clinical Team at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Brooklyn; Vietnam nurse Joan Fury, and; Vietnam veterans Neil Kenny, Rudy Thomas, Tony Velez and Tony Wallace. This event was held at the Brooklyn Historical Society, where the exhibit, “In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn’s Vietnam Veterans”, features these panelists and will be up through Spring 2009.

Bums, Slummers and Swells—Social Class And The Birth Of American Popular Culture On The Lower East Side, 1820-1855

Chie Witt — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:44:58 +0000

The development of the “underclass” in American life and the simultaneous beginnings of what we now call pop culture both date back to the Lower East Side of nearly two centuries ago. In the early 19th century, the Five Points, a tiny area near today’s Chinatown, became America’s first slum. The pastimes and diversions of Five Pointers — their “flash” talk, music, gang violence, and sensational theatre — became part of America’s social bedrock. Warren Shaw, historian, traces the roots of American pop culture — from slang and comic books to Hollywood action blockbusters, from rap to rock’n roll and tap dancing — back to Five Points, the very location from which he delivers this talk. This event was held by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

FDR and the New Deal

Chie Witt — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:09:54 +0000

The late Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the great scholar of the New Deal, liked to talk about how the best historians know that history is “an argument without end.” Now a new generation of authors has taken up that argument, and it’s as controversial as ever.

Join columnists Amity Shlaes and Jonathan Alter as they square off with strikingly different interpretations of the New Deal and its meaning for both Election 2008 and the country’s future.

Shlaes is the author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (2007), and a columnist for Bloomberg; Alter is the author of The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope and a senior editor for Newsweek.

This event was held by the New-York Historical Society.

Orientalism: The Roots of Modernism

Chie Witt — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:44:36 +0000

The 19th century had a love affair with the Arabic Middle East. For some it was all about an exoticism which we today might think of as romantic, ornamental, even “superficial,” much like the craze for chinoiserie in the 1700s. But “Orientalism” in architecture, when processed by creative Western designers, also served as a root of modern design. Here in New York, beginning in the 1850s, proto-modern architects, influenced directly and indirectly by Arabic notions of design, forged a modern architecture, both inside and out, that we still can learn from today. Join Barry Lewis, architectural historian, for a look at various buildings including the pioneering 1850s All Souls Unitarian Church (now demolished); the 1870s Jefferson Market Courthouse (now the Greenwich Village branch library); and the still-extant 1870s Officers’ Room at the 7th Regiment Armory. This event was held at the New-York Historical Society.

Gandhi for Today’s World

Chie Witt — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:12:23 +0000

Gandhi’s legacy and the Satya Graha movement have proved potent inspiration not only for the freedom movement in India, but elsewhere in the world including the American Civil Rights movement and the freedom movement in South Africa. In this program composer Philip Glass and Asia Society president Vishakha Desai engage in a lively discussion on Gandhi’s principles and their legacy for today, moderated by Gustav Niebuhr associate professor of religion and the media and director of the Luce Project on Religion, Media and International Relations at Syracuse University. Presented by Asia Society and Syracuse University.

Richard Price

Chie Witt — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:49:18 +0000

Richard Price — writer for HBO’s The Wire and the author of The Wanderers, The Color of Money, and Clockers — turns to the subject of crime in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in his new novel Lush Life. Price speaks about the overlapping universes that collide in his novel at the Tenement Museum, in the heart of the Lower East Side.

Alexander Hamilton and the National Triumph of New York City

Chie Witt — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:36:44 +0000

New York City is the source for the quintessentially American traits of capitalism, ethnic tolerance, free speech, and reliance on lawyers and lawsuits. Yet the New York legacy generally goes unrecognized. How did New York come to have such a formative influence on the United States? And how did it manage to do so without getting any of the credit? Warren Shaw, historian, lets us know that — more than anyone else —: Alexander Hamilton is the answer to both of these questions. This event was held at the Morris Jumel Mansion, by the Historic House Trust.

New York Brownstones: Icons of a Great City

Chie Witt — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:36:52 +0000

Charles Lockwood, author of the indispensable Bricks and Brownstone was described by The New Yorker as the “consummate authority” on this iconic building type. His recent research has uncovered many surprising facts and long-forgotten historical photographs.

Mr. Lockwood discusses the evolution of the New York row house from the 1820s onward, describes the daily lives of houses’ occupants, and illustrates how brownstones were designed, built, and sold 100 to 150 years ago.

This event was held at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York.