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A Test Case for America: Washington, Longfellow and the Jewish Community at Newport
Ted Widmer, director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, speaks about George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jewish community in Newport, Longfellow’s poem on the same theme, and the curious career of religious tolerance in American politics.
Wednesday, June 13 @ 7:00 pm
Co-sponsored by the National Park Service, Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters NHS, the Friends of the Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters, the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, and by Ann Daily. In honor of Frances Ackerly.
Gentlemen:
While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.
The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.
If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.
The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
G. Washington
Coming Soon in Harvard Square
Harvard China scholar Ezra Vogel discusses his highly acclaimed biography of transformational Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. How did Deng succeed in finding a path to make China a wealthy and powerful member of the international community? What personal and cultural factors contributed to his success? What obstacles did he face? How did Vogel go about researching and writing this masterful study of Deng’s life and legacy?
Recorded March 21, 2012
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, assesses the high-stakes diplomatic sparring between Washington and Tehran.
Have the diplomatic efforts of the Obama administration toward Iran failed? Was the Bush administration’s emphasis on military intervention, refusal to negotiate, and pursuit of regime change a better approach? How can the United States best address the ongoing turmoil in Tehran?
Recorded March 14, 2012
Co-sponsored by Don and Jeannette McInnes
Chu
ck Collins, director of the Institute for Policy Studies Program onInequality and the Common Good, and journalist Linda McQuaig explore the impact of the growing wealth gap, and suggest ways to reverse the increase in economic inequality. What role does the call for austerity play in reinforcing or overcoming economic inequality? Where do they see the political will to make the necessary policy changes? Recorded April 25, 2012
THE ECOLOGICAL IMAGINATION: DAVID ABRAM
In this Cambridge Forum Classic, best-selling writer David Abram, author of The Spell of the Sensuous, tells a story that reveals the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment.
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What lessons can we learn from our relationship with the natural world?
Author J.K. Rowling in procession at Harvard University 2008 commencement ceremonies.
This Summer, Cambridge Forum will re-broadcast IMAGINATION AND FAILURE (Recorded in 2008)
Author J.K. Rowling discusses her own life story, as a lesson for young people looking for future success. She argues that the world in which they live suffers from a failure of imagination, and she urges them to cultivate genuine imagination to solve problems, rather than falling into the trap of magical thinking.
Henry 
“Pistol” Bow Mason pitched in the Negro Leagues for the great Kansas City Monarchs and also in the Majors with the Phillies. Here he shares his experiences of playing in the Negro League, playing alongside such greats as Satchel Page, Willy Mays, and Jackie Robinson.
In 1951, after completing high school, Mason left Marshall, Missouri, and headed to Kansas City, where he was offered a tryout with the Kansas City Monarchs. Club manager Buck O’Neil was so impressed with Mason that he signed him with the team. On opening day in 1952, Mason hurled 16 amazing innings to defeat the Philadelphia Stars 3-2.
Remembering The Negro Leagues (recorded in 2000)
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MacArthur Fellow Lewis Hyde defends the concept of the cultural commons. How has our cultural heritage, the store of ideas and art we have inherited from the past, come to be seen as intellectual property. Does the emergence of Wikileaks endanger the notion of freedom of the press? Is “net neutrality” possible in the ownership society?
Recorded 1/26/2011
Updates
- Our recent forum on WORLD ON THE EDGE: Preventing Environmental and Economic Collapse featuring Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute is now available on audio CD. #
- A new webcast of Paul Loeb's talk on The Soul Of A Citizen is now available on the Forum Network. Pass it along: http://forum-network.org/lecture/renewing-democracy-soul-citizen #
- Watch a recent Cambridge Forum! Comedy's Creative Power to Persuade featuring The Onion editors Joe Garden and John Krewson http://forum-network.org/lecture/onion-comedy%E2%80%99s-creative-power-persuade #
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