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Category: "Social Studies 5.2"

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Poking Fun: Political Puns and Social Satire in the Genre Paintings of William Sidney Mount

Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan, St. James
Subtle humor injected into scenes of country life by this world-renowned 19th century Long Island artist brought smiles to the lips of those in the know.

George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring

Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan, St. James
This colorful PowerPoint presentation reveals how Patriot spies gathered British military information, from Long Island to Manhattan, and delivered it to George Washington despite constant danger.

"Washington Crossing the Delaware": The Story Behind the Painting

Elizabeth Kahn Kaplan, St. James
This lecture provides an in-depth analysis of events culminating in Washington's pivotal victory at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, linked to Leutze's iconic painting.

Political Humor: A Look Back in Anger Mixed with Mirth

Joseph Dorinson, Brooklyn
Can Tina Fey impede the political ascent of Sarah Palin? Did H.L. Mencken destroy the reputation of Presidents Harding and Coolidge? How did comedians in America contribute to Nixon's resignation? For answers to these and other knotty questions, stay tuned.

The Muse of the Revolution: Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation

Nancy Rubin Stuart, East Sandwich
The dramatic story of Founding Mother Mary Otis Warren (1728-1814), America's first female playwright and historian, who wrote an eyewitness account of the Revolution.

The Balfour Declaration: The Central U.S. Role in Israeli-Palestinian Relations

Joseph Rappaport, New York
The United States has played a role in the Middle East conflict going back at least as far as 1917. Learn more about the modern history of Israeli-Palestinian relations, America's involvement in key milestones along the way, and the current challenges facing Israelis and Palestinians.

Gilded Age Psyches: A Tale of Victorians Run Wild

Robert Spiegelman, New York
From the American Revolution to the Indian Wars of the Wild West, the love story of John Adair and Cornelia Wadsworth is interlaced with the history of America's first 100 years. Follow this brilliant -- but haunted -- Victorian couple as they romance in Manhattan, hunt buffalo on the Great Plains, and found a Texas cattle empire.

Presidential Power

Frank M. Sorrentino, Brooklyn
This lecture will explore Presidential power and how it has evolved from its origins to the present. Is it sufficient to protect the nation in an age of terrorism, or is it a threat to the constitutional framework and American liberty?

The Police and the Constitution

James L. Coll, Seaford
This informative lecture with a unique perspective highlights how Founding-era ideals apply to the evolving powers and limitations of the police in modern society.

Rediscovering Hudson, Fulton and Champlain: Where New Worlds Meet Old Ambitions

Robert Spiegelman, New York
Voyages into the New World were floated by courage, vision, technology, and investment. Take a fresh look at the legacies of Hudson, Fulton, and Champlain: how each contributed to New York's rise as an economic power, and shaped New York's commerce and influence from the colonial era to contemporary times.

19th Century Circus: Sex, Violence and Politics

David Carlyon, Larchmont
When did circus change from raw adult fare to innocent family entertainment? A historian. and ex-Ringling Brothers clown investigates the reasons.

The Two Worlds of Major Mordecai Myers: A Jewish-American Hero

Neil Yetwin, Schenectady
Major Mordecai Myers was a Jewish merchant, soldier and politician who led parallel lives in New York’s Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

Lobbying: The Exercise of Politics and Power in New York

Tom Shanahan, Albany
They dueled over legislation long before they rowed across the Hudson to do it for keeps in 1804. Burr, Hamilton, and Lobbying in New York.

Objects and Memory

Jonathan Fein, Cortlandt Manor
What are the things in our homes and museums that mean the most to us? How do we preserve the past and speak to the future?

In the Good Old Colony Days: Songs of Early America

Linda Russell, New York
Balladeer Linda Russell presents a look at the 18th century America through ballads, broadsides, love songs, marches, drinking songs and dance tunes.

The Radium Dial Painters: How a Local Tragedy Changed the Nation

Eugene J. Boesch, Mahopac
In 1920, young women employed as watch dial painters by U.S. Radium in Orange, New Jersey, began reporting health problems. By 1922, some were dying. But despite the fact that these women were working unprotected with a radioactive material, U.S. Radium rejected any claims that it was responsible. How did the tragedy of the "radium girls" became one of the nation's first recognized cases of industrial poisoning, and contribute to the movement to protect worker health?

Cooling Mother Earth: New York's Footprint in Nature, Then and Now

Robert Spiegelman, New York
A tour-de-force in words and images, "Cooling Mother Earth" connects the extraordinary twin legacies of New York's Indians and great forgotten Naturalists, to take us back to our roots and better confront our environmental future.

Tracing Today's Public Education Foundations to its History

Donald Singer, Forest Hills
Public education is the backbone of our democracy. Why is that? This discussion will trace the foundations of Public Education and their affects on us today.

Selling America: The 'Voice of America' and U.S. Radio

Terry Hamblin, Delhi
This multimedia presentation examines the United States' use of radio propaganda in Western Europe during the Cold War. Through the use of audiotapes and visual images, we will examine how the United States sought to "sell America", combat Communism and project its ideals and policies to foreign audiences.

José Martí: Chronicler of New York City

Chaz Mena, New York
“A guest sees more in an hour than his host in a year.” -- José Martí, Cuban humanist, remains to this day the best chronicler of New York City’s gilded age.

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