President Abraham Lincoln's Time in Erie County
Monday, April 3
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Community Center Library
Featuring Sabina Freeman, B.A.
The first time Abraham Lincoln was in Erie County Pennsylvania was on Saturday morning, February 16, 1861, on the way to his inauguration. He traveled through the county by train, stopping three times to talk to the folks who had gathered there. He knew this twelve-day journey across the northern states would allow the populace to know him better, although he had run for the Illinois Senate seat in 1858 and his sentiments were known. Now in Erie, newspapermen waited, wanting a quote. His comment was about the fine food served to him at the Erie Depot. Four years later, on April 28, 1865, President Lincoln's second appearance in Erie and only stop in the county, was during the return trip to Springfield, Illinois on the way to his burial.
Important to Note:
- Location: Lincoln Community Center Library -- 1255 Manchester Rd., Erie, Pa 16505.
- Date/Time: Monday, April 3 at 6:00 p.m.
- Admission: FREE, walk-ins welcome!
General Marquis de Lafayette, Part II: French Revolution and Return to America
Monday, April 17
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring JES Scholar-in-Residence Judy Lynch, Ph.D. and Richard Arthur, M.A.
During a one-year long visit of 24 states, Marquis de Lafayette visited Erie, Pennsylvania on June 3, 1825. He was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries. Join JES Decadian scholar Judy Lynch and Waterford historian Richard Arthur in discussing the travels, the impact, and the people this extraordinary statesman met during his journey through Pennsylvania - to Pittsburgh, Meadville, Waterford and historic Fort LeBoeuf, and finally to Erie for a last day of celebration before he headed east. The story of a hero for northwestern Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world.
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society-- 3207 State St. Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Monday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m.
- Admission: FREE, walk-ins welcome!
Nimitz, Halsey & Spruance – "The Admirals who won the Pacific War"
Tuesday, April 18
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Corry Higher Education Council
Featuring Mark Squeglia, B.A.
This program will include an in-depth review of the 3 Admirals who led the US Navy in the Pacific and to the eventual defeat of the Japanese Navy and the Empire of Japan. We will discuss the strategy, personalities, relationships, decisions, victories & defeats, and how these factors impacted the war against Japan.
Important to Note:
- Location: Corry Higher Education Council -- 221 N. Center Street, Corry, PA 16407.
- Date/Time: Tuesday, April 18 at 6:00 p.m.
- Admission: FREE, please register in advance!
The June Fourth Incident - Looking back at the Tiananmen Square Uprising in China
Wednesday, April 19
4 - 5:00 p.m. EST
JES Facebook Live
Featuring Robert Kibler, Ph.D.
The China of today is an economic juggernaut, its urban Beijing citizens sporting Gucci, Rolex, and Louis Vuitton. Mercedes and Jaguars clog the roads and neon signs sell everything aglow all night. But it wasn't always that way. China in 1989 was a poor country with little electricity, few cars, and a world of impoverished people from the countryside moving to Beijing. The Chinese world of 1989 was nevertheless hopeful for change but had experienced very little of it. Indeed, Chinese students joined by workers launched a crusade to improve the lot of everyday Chinese people. Together and euphoric, millions challenged the absolute hegemony of Communist Party authority, and the world watched as a frail democratic movement grew into a massive protest that filled and spilled out of vast Tiananmen Square, center of Beijing life. But in one fell swoop, soldiers attacked those millions, scattered them all, and left thousands dead. No one knows for sure how many, because the dead were cremated quietly and instantly, and order and authority returned. But try as the Communist authority did to put the genie back in the bottle, its China was forever changed. In this JES digital program, Dr. Kibler will introduce listeners to the world of China then and discuss the culture as he experienced it as a young professor teaching in Beijing in the immediate aftermath of the revolution in 1989. It was a time long ago and far away, but with a contemporary message about the Chinese world of today.
Important to Note:
- Location: JES Facebook Live
- Date/Time: Wednesday, April 19 at 4:00 p.m. EST
- Admission: FREE
What is Afrocentrism? - A Look at World History through a Different Lens
Wednesday, April 19
6 - 7:30 p.m.
PennWest University - Edinboro - Alexander Music Hall
Featuring Parris Baker, Ph.D.
In this lecture, JES Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Parris Baker will explain the concept of Afrocentrism, an approach to studying world history that focuses on the history of people of recent African descent.
Important to Note:
- Location: PennWest University - Edinboro - Alexander Music Hall -- 110 Kiltie Rd., Edinboro, PA 16444.
- Date/Time: Wednesday, April 19 at 6:00 p.m.
- Admission: FREE, walk-ins welcome!
"Americans and Their Games" – Sports in American History. Part III: The Tales of Race and Ethnicity
Thursday, April 20
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring JES Scholar-in-Residence, Andrew Roth, Ph.D.
Almost hiding in plain sight, sports are as important to American culture and history as our political system, our churches, and the media. Sports – "the games Americans play" – are, perhaps to the surprise of some, one of American society's great engines of social progress. In this chapter of his "Americans and Their Games" – Sports in History & Culture, JES Scholar-in-Residence Andrew Roth explores the powerful role sports played in first creating the Jim Crow era and then dismantling it. Meet Moses "Fleetwood" Walker, William Clarence Matthews, Rube Foster, the first African American women's baseball team, the "Dolly Vardens," and as they used to say in Hollywood, "a cast of thousands" transforming American culture and society. While hardly a level playing field, sports is the great social leveler providing opportunity for all. In pursuit of victory, sports in American society became one of the prime engines in The American Tapestry Project's story of the ever-expanding definition of the "We" in "We the People."
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society -- 3207 State Street, Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Thursday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m.
- Admission: $10/person or $15 with a guest
Places of Grace and Beauty: Reflections on Erie's Christian Places of Worship
Monday, April 24
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Jefferson Educational Society
Featuring Michael DeSanctis, Ph.D.
This lavishly illustrated presentation will offer participants a variety of tools for better appreciating the rich heritage of Christian church architecture in the city of Erie. The presentation will identify the "Five Ps of Church Architecture" (plan, proportion, perspective, placement, purpose) as Dr. DeSanctis finds them operating in the design, construction, and use of Erie's church buildings. Though local groups of Christians certainly embrace the beauty and intelligibility of this world, special attention with be devoted to explaining the means by which they lend architectural expression to their shared belief in a supernatural realm surpassing this one. Time at the presentation's conclusion will be directed to participants' questions and comments.
Important to Note:
- Location: Jefferson Educational Society -- 3207 State Street, Erie, PA 16508.
- Date/Time: Monday, April 24
- Admission: FREE, walk-ins are welcome!
