My Friend, the Senator, and Our Love of History

Thursday, January 28, 2010 6:00-7:00 PM

Historian David McCullough talks about Senator Kennedy’s life and their long and unique friendship.  

A Conversation with Reverend Joseph Lowery

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 5:30-7:00 PM

Reverend Lowery, a pioneer of the civil rights movement who delivered the closing benediction at President Obama’s inauguration, shared memories of his legendary life and career with award-winning television host and journalist, Liz Walker.

True Compass:  The Life of Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Thursday, December 3, 2009 6:00-7:30 PM

Victoria Reggie Kennedy introduced historians Michael Beschloss, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who discussed Senator Kennedy's memoir, True Compass, his role in history and his legacy with political analyst, Mike Barnicle.Mrs. Kennedy signed copies of True Compass (which was on sale in our museum store) following the forum.This special forum was co-sponsored by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. 

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Covering Obama

Monday, November 2, 2009 5:30-7:00 PM

Journalists Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker; Lynn Sweet Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times and columnist for Politics Daily; and, Richard Wolffe of Newsweek and author of Renegade: The Making of a President, analyzed the media's coverage of President Obama's first year in office.  Commentator Callie Crossley of WGBH's Beat the Press moderated. *Ryan Lizza was unable to participate due to illness.

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A Tribute to I.M. Pei

Sunday, October 18, 2009 1:30-3:00 PM

To mark the 30th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Kennedy Library hosted a tribute to its architect and visionary, I.M. Pei.  Family, colleagues and critics reflected on his extraordinary career with PBS host, Charlie Rose.

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Presidency in the Nuclear Age:  Cuban Missile Crisis and the First Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Monday, October 12, 2009 10:45 AM-12:00 PM

The second panel, Cuban Missile Crisis and the First Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, featured Ted Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy; Carl Kaysen, Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs to President Kennedy; Graham Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University; and moderated by Tim Naftali, Director, Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

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Presidency in the Nuclear Age:  Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism and the Presidency

Monday, October 12, 2009 2:45-4:00 PM

Following an address by President Bill Clinton (via video), the final panel, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism and the Presidency, featured Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard University; Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations; Graham Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University; and moderated by Tom Gjelten, NPR correcponsdent.

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A Moveable Feast

Sunday, September 20, 2009 2:00-3:30 PM

Sean Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's grandson; Adam Gopnik, New Yorker writer and author of Paris to the Moon; and, Diane Johnson, author of Le Mariage and Le Divorce, discussed the restored edition of Hemingway's Parisian classic, A Moveable Feast, with Scott Simon, host of NPR's Saturday Weekend Edition.

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A Tribute to John Updike

Sunday, June 7, 2009 3:00-4:00 PM

Authors Nicholson Baker, Samuel Shem (pen-name of Dr. Stephen Bergman) and Anne Bernays; editor and journalist Charles McGrath; critic and scholar William Pritchard; and family members paid tribute to John Updike, who passed away on January 27, 2009 at the age of 76.  Radio/internet host Christopher Lydon was Master of Ceremonies.  This program was presented in conjunction with PEN New England.

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The Presidency of Gerald Ford

Sunday, May 3, 2009 1:30-3:00 PM

Steven Ford, son of the President; Carla Hills, who served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Ford administration; Benton Becker, advisor to President Ford; and historian Richard Norton Smith discussed his legacy.  Bruce Schulman, professor of History at Boston University, moderated. This forum is part of the Library's series examining 20th-century presidents.

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The First 100 Days

Monday, April 13, 2009 5:30-7:00 PM

Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor and columnist for Newsweek and author of The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, and Richard Parker, Lecturer in Public Policy and Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, offered observations regarding the early days of the Obama administration.  Ted Widmer, historian and former Clinton speechwriter, moderated.

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PEN Hemingway Awards

Sunday, March 29, 2009 3:00-4:00 PM

Patrick Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's son, and author Richard Russo bestowed the annual PEN/Hemingway Award to Michael Dahlie for his first book of fiction, A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living.  Rebecca Goldstein introduced the ceremony's keynote speaker, Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize winning-author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

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Foreign Policy Challenges Facing the Nation

Monday, March 16, 2009 5:30-7:00 PM

Ambassador Nicholas R. Burns, former Undersecretary of State and Professor of International Politics at Harvard University, and Andrew Bacevich, Professor of  International Relations at Boston University, discussed the nation’s foreign policy challenges with Martha Raddatz, Chief Foreign Correspondent for ABC News. 

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Poverty and Social Justice Challenges Facing the Nation

Sunday, February 8, 2009 2:00-3:30 PM

Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, discussed the social, economic and educational challenges facing this country.  New York Times columnist, Bob Herbert, moderated. 

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Postcards from China

Sunday, January 25, 2009 2:00-3:30 PM

James Fallows, National Corresondent for The Atlantic, who has been living in China for the last two years, discussed his book, Postcards from Tomorrow Square:  Reports from China, with the founder of Harvard University's Global Equity Initiative, Dr. Lincoln Chen. 

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Civil Rights in the Age of Obama

Monday, January 19, 2009 2:00-3:30 PM

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and civil rights leader Roger Wilkins reflected on the state of American race relations, the evolution of our electoral politics, and Barack Obama’s historic election with journalist Callie Crossley.

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Human Rights Challenges Facing the Next President

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Jane Mayer, New Yorker writer and author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror turned into a War on American Ideals; James McGovern, Chair of the Massachusetts Congressional Human Rights Caucus; Michael Posner, President, Human Rights First; and James Traub, New York Times Magazine writer and author of The Freedom Agenda, discussed future human rights challenges with John Shattuck, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton.

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The Trials of Homecoming

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 1:30-3:00 PM

Psychiatrist and MacArthur Fellow Dr. Jonathan Shay explained his treatment of combat trauma by using the ancient accounts of battle described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.  He was joined by former army captain James Meeks, who served two tours of duty in Iraq.  Radio host Christopher Lydon moderated. 

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The President and the Arts

Monday, October 27, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Dana Gioia, Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, argued for as prominent a role for the arts in presidential policies as exemplified by the Kennedy administration.  Essayist and author Sven Birkerts (The Gutenberg Elegies) moderated. 

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Running for President

Sunday, October 5, 2008 2:00-3:30 PM

George McGovern and Michael Dukakis, the 1972 and 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominees respectively, reflected on their own races and how presidential campaigns have evolved over time. Tom Oliphant, who covered both of their campaigns for The Boston Globe, moderated. 

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 Internet, Blogs, You Tube and Presidential Campaigns

Thursday, September 11, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Political reporters Matt Bai of The New York Times and Garrett Graff of Washingtonian Magazine (and the first blogger given a White House press pass); and, Joe Trippi, campaign advisor to Howard Dean (2004) and John Edwards (2008) examine how the internet has revolutionized politics with Tom Ashbrook, host of WBUR’s On Point. 

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A Conversation with Nancy Pelosi

Monday, August 4, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed her new autobiography, Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters, with Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

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The Centennial of Thurgood Marshall

Monday, June 16, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

July 2, 2008 marked the centennial of Thurgood Marshall's birth.  Join Juan Williams, NPR Senior Correspondent and author of Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary; U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner; and, Harvard Law Professor Lani Guinier as they honored the first African American appointed to the United State Supreme Court.  Georgetown Law Professor Sheryll Cashin moderated. 

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A Conversation with 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus

Saturday, June 7, 2008 2:30-4:30 PM

Muhammad Yunus discussed his book, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, which outlines a new business model to create a more humane world.  Dr. Lincoln Chen, founder of Harvard University's Global Equity Initiative, moderated.

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A Conversation with Barney Frank

Monday, April 28, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Congressman Barney Frank discussed the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society, with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. 

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PEN Hemingway Awards

Sunday, March 30, 2008 3:00-4:00 PM

Alice Hoffman delivered the keynote address at the PEN/Hemingway Awards ceremony hosted annually by the Kennedy Library.  Ms. Hoffman is one of our nation's most distinguished novelists.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

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A Conversation with Carol Johnson

Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Boston's new School Superintendent Carol Johnson discussed the challenges facing our public schools with David Boeri, host of WBUR's Radio Boston. Mayor Menino introduced the forum.

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In the Kennedy Kitchen with Chef Neil Connolly

Sunday, March 9, 2008 3:00-4:00 PM

Former Kennedy family chef, Neil Connolly, prepared favorite Kennedy family recipes and shared memories of his many years cooking for the family in Hyannis Port.  NECN TV Diner and KISS 108’s Billy Costa moderated. Following the discussion, Chef Connolly signed copies of his book, In the Kennedy Kitchen:  Recipes and Recollections of A Great American Family.  "In the Kennedy Kitchen" was made possible by the generous support of Gourmet Caterers, NECN and Boston Irish Tourism Association. 

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Freedom for the Thoughts We Hate

Monday, February 25, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Lewis discussed his new book, Freedom for the Thoughts We Hate, with Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow. 

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Welcome to the new Poet Laureate

Monday, January 28, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and new Poet Laureate Charles Simic discussed poetry and read their favorite poems.

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A Conversation with Madeleine Albright

Monday, January 14, 2008 5:30-7:00 PM

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership with Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye.

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Presidential Courage

Sunday, December 9, 2007 4:00-5:30 PM

Against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential campaign, historian Michael Beschloss discussed his new book, Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989.  Al Hunt of Bloomberg News moderated. 

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Remembering Julia Child

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

Julia Child's long-time editor, Judith Jones, discussed French cooking, the joys of eating, and the indefatigable Julia Child with Sheryl Julian, Food Editor of The Boston Globe.  Her new memoir is The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. This forum is presented in conjunction with our current exhibit, Jacqueline Kennedy Entertains: The Art of the White House Dinner.

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Honoring Our Soldiers in Iraq

Sunday, November 11, 2007 1:00-2:30 PM

Martha Raddatz, ABC's chief White House correspondent, discussed her coverage of the war in Iraq and her new book The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family.  Veteran journalist and NECN Anchor Chet Curtis moderated.

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The Struggle for Freedom and Justice in South Africa

Tuesday, October 30, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall and Justice Richard Goldstone, who served on The Constitutional Court of South Africa, examined the long road toward freedom and justice in South Africa.  Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. moderated.

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A Tribute to Jackie Robinson

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon Robinson, Director of Educational Programming for Major League Baseball, and Scott Simon, author of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball, paid tribute to Robinson during this 60th anniversary year of his having broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Tom Oliphant, former Boston Globe columnist and author of Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, moderated. This forum was presented in conjunction with a new exhibit, Shaping Up America: JFK, Sports and the Call to Physical Fitness.

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Exploring the Space Frontier

Monday, September 17, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

September 12th marks the 45^th anniversary of President Kennedy’s Rice University speech about the importance of space exploration.  NASA Astronaut and Needham, Massachusetts native Sunita Williams shared her experiences about having been a crew member on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, and having set a new record for the longest spaceflight by a woman.  Robin Young, host of WBUR's Here & Now, moderated. 

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A Conversation with Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Tuesday, September 4, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

Before launching her journalism career, Charlayne Hunter-Gault made civil rights history as the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Georgia in 1962.  Ms. Hunter-Gault discussed her trailblazing career, changes in broadcast journalism, and her life in South Africa with Gwen Ifill, host of the PBS program Washington Week.  

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Rachel Carson Centennial

Saturday, June 2, 2007 1:00-3:00 PM

May 27, 2007 is the centennial of Rachel Carson's birth.  Her book, Silent Spring, transformed our nation and its understanding of the dangers of pesticide use.  In response to the issues she raised, President Kennedy appointed a special Science Advisory committee that subsequently affirmed her findings.  Stewart Udall , Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, delivered opening remarks.  The other speakers who discussed Carson's life and legacy were Professor E.O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist; and Roland Clement, former Vice President of the Audubon Society and her defender during the 1950s and 1960s.  Annick Smith, nature writer and co-producer of A River Runs Through It, moderated.*Linda Lear, Carsons's biographer, was unable to attend due to a cancelled flight. 

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Challenges in Iraq

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

March 2007 marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq.   Ali Allawi, former Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance in the Iraqi Transitional Government; Ambassador Barbara Bodine, who has spent most of her career in the Middle East, most recently as a coordinator for post-conflict reconstruction in Iraq; and, Ambassador Peter Galbraith, author of The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End  discussed the situation in Iraq today.  Boston Globe reporter Kevin Cullen moderated.

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PEN Hemingway Awards

Sunday, April 1, 2007 3:00-4:00 PM

Edward P. Jones  delivered the keynote address at the PEN/Hemingway Awards ceremony hosted annually by the Kennedy Library.  Mr. Jones won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World. He is a past PEN/Hemingway Award winner and MacArthur Fellow.  His new book is All Aunt Hagar's Children.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

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Reflections on the 20th Century

Monday, March 12, 2007 5:30-7:00 PM

Born on May 29, 1917, John F. Kennedy would have turned 90 years old this spring. NPR Senior News Analyst, Daniel Schorr , former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, and historian Jill  Ker Conway  looked back at the 20th century and reflected on the changes that have shaped and changed our nation and the world since President Kennedy’s death.  Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, moderated. 

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Presidential Speechwriters

Monday, February 19, 2007 2:00-3:30 PM

Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel and speechwriter for President Kennedy, Ray Price,  speechwriter for President Nixon, Ted Widmer, foreign policy speechwriter for President Clinton, and Chriss Winston , Director of the Office of Speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush, discussed the art of capturing the president's voice, communicating his ideas, and inspiring the public.  They shared memories of the presidents with whom they worked and clips from their favorite speeches. Linda Wertheimer, NPR's National Senior Correspondent, moderated. 

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A Conversation with Patrick Hemingway

Sunday, December 3, 2006 2:00-3:15 PM

Patrick Hemingway, the son of Ernest Hemingway, discussed his father's writing and legacy with Stanley Katz, President Emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies and chair of the Societies' Social Research Council Working Group on Cuba, through which he has done extensive work with the Hemingway materials remaining in Cuba.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's papers. 

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Interpreting the Mid-Term Elections

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

Robert Blendon, Director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program, and Andrew Kohut , Diretor of the Pew Research Center, interpreted the results of the Novemer 7th elections.  NECN host, Jim Braude, moderated. 

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The Progressive/Conservative Debate

Monday, October 30, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and John Podesta , President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, debated the issues -- from stem cell research to the war on terror -- that define and often divide American politics today.  Evan Thomas, Assistant Managing Editor of Newsweek, moderated. 

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A Conversation with Barack Obama

Friday, October 20, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

Senator Barack Obama discussed his new book, The Audacity of Hope, with New York Times columnist Bob Herbert. 

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Rebuilding Afghanistan

Monday, September 25, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

Former National Public Radio correspondent Sarah Chayes , who has been living in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, and award-winning journalist Sebastian Junger, who has covered Afghanistan for ABC News and other publications, discussed efforts to help reconstruct Afghanistan after 9/11.  Jessica Stern, an expert on terrorism who teaches at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, moderated. 

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The Pentagon and the Presidency

Monday, June 12, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

James Carroll  discussed his new book House of War in which he argues the Pentagon has, since its founding, operated beyond the control of any force in government including the President himself. Sarah Sewall, Director of the Program on National Security and Human Rights at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and Retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor, author of Breaking the Phalanx and Transformation Under Fire, joined him.  NPR National Security Correspondent Tom Gjelten moderated.

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A Conversation with Senator Edward Kennedy on Immigration

Friday, June 9, 2006 1:30-2:30 PM

Senator Edward Kennedy  discussed the need for immigration reform in this country and the bipartisan immigration bill he sponsored with Senator John McCain.  The Boston Globe's Tom Oliphant moderated. 

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Poverty and the American Dream

Monday, May 8, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

Geoffrey Canada, founding President of Harlem Children’s Zone; Jason DeParle, New York Times senior writer and author of American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare; and Barbara Ehrenreich , author of the best selling Nickel and Dimed , examined, with other national experts, how to address one of this country’s most compelling challenges, poverty.  David Ellwood, Dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, moderated. 

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A Conversation with Frank McCourt

Monday, April 10, 2006 5:30-7:00 PM

Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela’s Ashes, discussed his Irish heritage.  This forum was one of several that was in conjunction with our exhibit, "A Journey Home - John F. Kennedy and Ireland."  Kevin Cullen of The Boston Globe moderated.

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Vietnam and the Presidency - Introduction by Caroline Kennedy and Interview with President Jimmy Carter

Saturday, March 11, 2006 9:00-9:30 AM

Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, introduced Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News anchorman. Former President Jimmy Carter then spoke via video on how the specter of Vietnam affected his foreign policy. 

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Vietnam and the Presidency - The Media and the Role of Public Opinion

Saturday, March 11, 2006 12:45-2:15 PM

How did the media cover the war? How much influence did the media have in shaping public opinion? How did the growing protest movement affect presidential decision-making? Steve Bell, who covered Vietnam for ABC News; Frances FitzGerald, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fire in the Lake; and Dan Rather, who covered Vietnam for CBS News.

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Vietnam and the Presidency - How We Got In:  The United States, Asia, and Vietnam

Friday, March 10, 2006 1:00-2:30 PM

What do Presidential Library records tell us about how the United States got involved in Vietnam from American involvement in Asia at the turn of the century through the fall of French Indo-China? The panelist were professors George Herring, Robert D. Schulzinger, and Marilyn Young. The Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, moderated.

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Vietnam and the Presidency -- Keynote by David Halberstam

Friday, March 10, 2006 5:00-5:30 PM

David Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam and is the author of The Best and the Brightest, the acclaimed critical history of how and why the United States went to war in Vietnam.

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A Tribute to Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm

Monday, January 16, 2006 2:00-3:30 PM

California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, National Public Radio’s senior news analyst Cokie Roberts, and former Texas Governor Ann Richards discussed the remarkable political careers of two African-American women, Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm.  Veteran television and documentary producer and WGBH Commentator Callie Crossley moderated. Barbara Jordan, who died ten years ago, was elected to the Texas Senate in 1972 and was the first African-American woman from a Southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Shirley Chisholm, who passed away in 2005, was the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress and the first African-American to run as a Democratic presidential candidate in 1972.

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A Tribute to Sargent Shriver

Monday, December 12, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

Mark Shields, Rev. Bryan Hehir, Lewis Butler, Harris Wofford, Sargent Shriver's biographer Scott Stossel, and Tim Shriver discussed the many contributions Sargent Shriver has made to our country. Chris Matthews, former Peace Corps volunteer and host of MSNBC's Hardball, moderated.  Eunice and Sargent Shriver attended. 

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Dear Papa Dear Hotch

Monday, November 28, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

On the publication of Dear Papa, Dear Hotch: The Correspondence of Ernest Hemingway and A.E. Hotchner, the award-winning playwright, author, and good friend of Hemingway shared stories about the man.  Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Justin Kaplan moderated.

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What's Happened to the News Media?

Monday, November 7, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

John Seigenthaler, award-winning journalist and former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Ellen Hume, director of the Center on Media and Society at the University of Massachusetts Boston; and Garrett Graf, the first blogger admitted to a White House press briefing, discussed the continuing controversies in print and broadcast journalism and how the Internet is changing the face of the news media. Callie Crossley of WGBH’s "Beat the Press" moderated.

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JFK MLK RFK 1960-1968

Sunday, October 23, 2005 2:00-5:15 PM

Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Counsel to President Kennedy; Harris Wofford, President Kennedy’s chairman for the Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights; Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pillar of Fire; and Robert Moses, pivotal organizer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and director of the Mississippi Project in the early 1960s, looked at the years 1960 to 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr. engaged the President and the Attorney General in the battle to extend civil rights to all. Marian Wright Edelman, founder and chairman of the Children’s Defense Fund and an organizer of Dr. King’s Poor People’s March, then joined Peter Edelman, aide to Robert F. Kennedy; and Elaine Jones, former President of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in a look at the years 1963 to 1968 and the continuing relationship between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy concerning civil rights and their growing opposition to the Vietnam War. NPR's Senior Correspondent Juan Williams moderated.

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A Conversation with World War II PT Boat Veterans

Monday, June 27, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

PT Boat veterans Dick Keresey, Paul “Red” Fay and Bill “Bitter” Battle and PT 109 veteran Maurice Kowal share their stories of serving on PT Boats in the Solomon Islands during World War II at the same time as John F. Kennedy. H.D.S. Greenway, former Editorial Page Editor of the Boston Globe, moderates.

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The Search for PT 109

Monday, June 13, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

Dr. Robert Ballard introduces and discusses his documentary about his quest to find the wreckage of John F. Kennedy's PT boat with Dick Keresey, who was aboard PT 105 the same evening of the attack, and Max Kennedy, who accompanied the National Geographic crew to the Solomon Islands. 

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A Conversation with Bob Herbert

Monday, May 9, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

New York Times op-ed columnist Bob Herbert discussed his new book, Promises Betrayed, which probes the widening gap between American ideals and American realities for working people, minorities, children and those not counted among the powerful.  Dick Gordon, host of WBUR’s The Connection, moderated. 

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Celebrating the Red Sox

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox chief executive officer, Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe Sports columnist, Tom Werner, Chairman of the Boston Red Sox, and Marty Nolan, former editorial writer for the Boston Globe, looked back at the season leading up to the Red Sox’s World Series Championship. Mike Barnicle, Boston Herald columnist, moderated.

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2005 PEN/Hemingway Awards

Sunday, April 10, 2005 3:00-4:30 PM

PEN/New England and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum honor Chris Abani as the 2005 recipient of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a distinguished first book of fiction for Graceland. Patrick Hemingway, the son of Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway, presents the prestigious literary award.  Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, author of Mohawk, The Risk Pool, Nobody's Fool, Straight Man and Empire Falls, delivers the keynote address.

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A Conversation with Senator John Kerry

Monday, February 28, 2005 5:30-7:00 PM

U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), the 2004 Democratic nominee for President of the United States,  shared his thoughts on U.S. policies both home and abroad with Pulitzer Prize winning Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant.

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Combating Global Poverty

Sunday, February 6, 2005 2:00-3:30 PM

Dr. Paul Farmer, who for the last 20 years has worked in Haiti with poor communities to combat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and Harvard economist Amartya Sen, who won a Noble Prize for his work on world poverty, discussed strategies to help eliminate the spread of disease and hunger in the developing world with Dr. Lincoln Chen, Director of Harvard's Center for Global Poverty.

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The Crisis in Darfur

Thursday, December 9, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

Alex de Waal, Dr. Jennifer Leaning of Harvard Medical School, Eric Reeves of Smith College, Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, and William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International, discussed the crisis in Darfur with PBS host Gail Harris.

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Life with the Hemingways

Monday, November 8, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

Valerie Hemingway, confidante and daughter-in-law of Ernest, shared stories of her years traveling with Ernest and Mary Hemingway.  Her book is Running with the Bulls.

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The Art of Political Cartoons

Sunday, October 24, 2004 3:00-4:30 PM

Cartoonists Mike Peters of the Dayton Daily News, Mike Luckovitch of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Dan Wasserman of the Boston Globe presented a show-and-tell about their craft.  Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weeked Edition Saturday, moderated. 

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A Conversation with Robert C. Byrd

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

Senator Robert C. Byrd discussed his new book Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency with Dick Gordon, host of WBUR’s The Connection.

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A Conversation with I.M. Pei

Sunday, September 26, 2004 3:00-4:30 PM

In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Kennedy Library, architect I.M. Pei discussed the evolution and implementation of his design for the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum with Boston Globe Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Robert Campbell.

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Recovering from 9/11

Friday, September 10, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

Senator Edward Kennedy introduced Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, who discussed efforts to compensate the victims' families of the 2001 terrorist attacks with Jack Rosenthal, President of The New York Times Company Foundation and creator of the 9/11 Neediest Fund. 

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Foreign Policy and the 2004 Campaign

Sunday, July 25, 2004 4:00-5:30 PM

One of the defining issues of President Kennedy's administration was his "internationalist" foreign policy.  As the 2004 presidential election unfolds, one of the debates that will likely define the race (and possibly determine the next president) wiill concern the role of the U.S. in the world.  Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Senator Joe Biden will discuss U.S. policy under the Bush administration and the possible direction of U.S foreign policy under a Democratic  President.  Tom Oliphant of the Boston Globe will moderate. 

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Averting "The Final Failure"

Sunday, May 16, 2004 2:00-3:30 PM

Sheldon M. Stern, former Kennedy Library historian, discussed his book, Averting The Final Failure, a first-ever narrative account of the secret ExComm meetings among President Kennedy and his most trusted advisors during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory moderated. 

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A Conversation with Frank McCourt

Monday, April 26, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, discussed his 45 year career as a high school English teacher in New York City.  Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, moderated. 

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Is Iraq Vietnam?

Sunday, April 18, 2004 2:00-3:30 PM

Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam and the New Yorker's Jon Lee Anderson (via phone from Baghdad) will compare the current occupation of Iraq with the war in Vietnam.  Host of WBUR's The Connection, Dick Gordon, will moderate. 

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PEN Hemingway 2004 Awards

Sunday, April 4, 2004 3:00-4:00 PM

Russell Banks delivers the keynote address at the PEN Hemingway Awards ceremony hosted annually by the Kennedy Library.  Mr. Banks has won numerous awards and prizes for his work.  Continental Drift and Cloudsplitter were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 and 1998 respectively. Affliction was short listed for both the PEN/Faulkner Fiction Prize and the Irish International Prize.  The Kennedy Library is the major repository of Ernest Hemingway's works.

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Celebrating America's National Pastime: Baseball

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 5:30-7:00 PM

On the eve of a new season, ABC's "Good Morning America" host Charles Gibson moderated a conversation about baseball's enduring hold on our national imagination with The New Yorker's Roger Angell, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy, and Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy.

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A Conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sunday, March 14, 2004 3:00-4:30 PM

NPR Senior Correspondent Juan Williams moderated a conversation with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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The Fog of War

Sunday, December 14, 2003 4:30-7:00 PM

Following a screening of The Fog of War, Frank Rich of the New York Times will moderate a discussion between the filmmaker, Errol Morris, and the subject of his documentary, Robert McNamara.

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Space Exploration: Then and Now

Tuesday, December 2, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, and Dr. Harrison Schmitt, the pilot for Apollo 17, led a discussion of the United States' efforts in space exploration from the Kennedy years to the present.  Veteran news correspondent Morton Dean moderated.

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Integrating the University of Alabama

Monday, November 17, 2003 5:30-7:30 PM

Robert Drew's documentary "Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment" chronicles the confrontation between President Kennedy and Governor Wallace in Alabama.  Following the film, Nicholas Katzenbach and Vivian Malone Jones (one of the two African American students who registered discussed this historic event in a conversation moderated by Juan Williams, NPR's Senior Correspondent.

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American Values:  Understanding Patriotism in Our Time

Wednesday, October 29, 2003 2:00-3:30 PM

Caroline Kennedy introduced a panel discussion with Jill Ker Conway, Louis Menand, Robert Pinsky, Daniel Schorr, and Roger Wilkins that explored the ideals upon which our country was founded and how they can best be fulfilled at home and abroad in today's world.  Former Harvard president, Derek Bok, moderated. 

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Recollecting JFK

Wednesday, October 22, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

In a conversation with New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel to the President, will reflect on his years of service to President Kennedy and on JFK's vision for our nation and its role in the world. 

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Covering the War in Iraq

Monday, September 29, 2003 5:30-6:00 PM

NPR foreign correspondent Anne Garrels discussed her recent experience covering the war in Iraq with WBUR's Dick Gordon.

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A Conversation with Paul "Red" Fay

Sunday, June 15, 2003 2:00-3:00 PM

Paul "Red" Fay, who served as Undersecretary of the Navy in the Kennedy Administration, recounts his friendship with John F. Kennedy, beginning as PT-109 crewmates in World War II.

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The U.S. and the World: A European Perspective

Monday, June 2, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

NPR's senior European correspondent Sylvia Poggioli engaged in a conversation with WBUR's Dick Gordon on how Europeans perceive President Bush, U.S. foreign policy, and the crisis in the American Catholic Church.

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Dallek on Kennedy

Tuesday, May 20, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Prize-winning author Robert Dallek launches his newest biography An Unfinished Life;:John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963.  William Leuchtenburg moderates. 

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A Conversation with John Edwards

Sunday, May 4, 2003 2:00-3:30 PM

Senator John Edwards, presidential candidate in 2004, discussed his positions on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues facing the nation.  Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant moderated.

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The March on Washington

Monday, April 14, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Congressman John Lewis leads a discussion on the March on Washington, its planning, implementation, and the effect it had on the coutnry.  Harvard University's Randall Kennedy  moderates.

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Non-Violence and the Quest for Civil Rights

Saturday, March 29, 2003 4:00-5:30 PM

Journalist Juan Williams will facilitate a conversation about the role of non-violence in the civil rights movement with civil rights leaders Diane Nash,  the Reverend James Lawson and former Kennedy administration official John Seigenthaler. 

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A Conversation with Bob Kerrey

Monday, March 24, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Former Senator Bob Kerrey will engage in a wide-ranging conversation on Vietnam and its aftermath, international justice, war crimes and terrorism, and the importance of pulic service and political ccourage in our time with the host of WBUR's The Connection Dick Gordon.

Rogue States and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Former National security Advisor Sandy Berger and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter discussed how the U.S. should best respond to the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world.  WBUR's Bill Delaney moderated. 

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Human Rights and the Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy

Monday, March 3, 2003 5:30-7:00 PM

Former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis moderates a conversation with Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, author of Speak Truth to Power and daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Loune Viaud, 2002 recipient of the RFK Human Rights Award, and Peter Edelman, former legislative aide to Robert F. Kennedy and author of Searching for America's Heart: RFK and the Renewal of Hope.

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Senator John F. Kerry

Sunday, February 9, 2003 7:00-8:30 PM

Senator John Kerry, presidential candidate in 2004, engaged in a discussion on issues including foreign affaris, environmental protection, domestic security, civil rights and liberties, and the economy.  Moderating the conversation was former Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan. 

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On Corporate Responsibility

Tuesday, December 17, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

In the wake of the upheavals in corporate America, Orin Smith, President and CEO of Starbucks Coffee; Richard Donahue, Vice Chairman of the Board of Nike; and, Eliot Spitzer, New York Attorney General, discussed corporate responsibility both in general and as it relates to the advancement of human rights at home and abroad.  Rosabeth Moss Kanter, of the Harvard Business School, moderated.

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Combating AIDS: The Human Rights Perspective

Tuesday, December 10, 2002 7:00-8:30 PM

The pandemic of AIDS has cost over 24 million lives. On International Human Rights Day, this forum, co-sponsored by a number of Boston-based human rights organizations, explored the world's response to AIDS through a human rights perspective.  Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered opening remarks and was followed by a panel discussion with Eric Sawyer, founder of ACT UP; Sandra Thurman, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy in the Clinton administration; Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health; and George Muwanguzi, Director of the Heath Rights Action Group in Uganda.  Susanna Sirkin, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights, moderated. 

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The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Media

Monday, October 28, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

What role did the media play during the Missile Crisis in the attempt to avert the nuclear war? Should our country face another confrontation of this magnitude how would today's media respond? Panelists included White House correspondents Sander Vanocur and Robert Pierpont and former FCC Chair Newton Minow.

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On the Brink: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Sunday, October 20, 2002 4:00-5:30 PM

From the White House to the Kremlin to Havana, Kennedy advisors Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Theodore Sorensen, Nikita Khrushchev's son, Sergei Khrushchev, and Cuban Ambassador Dagoberto Rodriguez discuss the events of October 1962.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: An Historical Perspective

Sunday, October 6, 2002 4:00-5:30 PM

How do historians now view the missile crisis and what effect did this event have on Cuban-Soviet relations? Historians James Blight, Philip Brenner, Julia Sweig, and Svetlana Savranskaya discuss the crisis and its aftermath in a session moderated by Graham Allison.

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James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss.

Monday, September 30, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

On the fortieth anniversary of the registration of James Meredith as the first black student at the University of Mississippi, Mr. Meredith joins with Kennedy administration officials Burke Marshall and John Doar, and Ernest Green, a member of the Little Rock Nine, in a forum moderated by journalist Juan Williams.

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Confronting the Terrorist Threat

Tuesday, September 24, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

Before the tragic events of September 11, 2001, former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman, co-chairs of the U.S. Commission on National Security, warned of the risks of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. In this forum, moderated by terrorism expert  Juliette Kayyem, they discuss our country's response to terrorism and the proposal to form a cabinet-level agency for homeland security.

Ask what you can do for your country: National Summit on Service

Monday, June 17, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

One of the most enduring legacies of President John F. Kennedy is his call for Americans to serve their country. Senators John McCain and Evan Bayh lead a town meeting on national service and discuss their pending legislation to create more service opportunities by expanding Americorps and modifying the college work-study program, GI Bill benefits, and enlistment procedures for those wishing to join the military.  Jonathan Alter, senior correspondent and columnist for Newsweek, moderates. 

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Citizen McCain

Monday, May 13, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold won the Profile in Courage Award in 1999 for their legislative efforts to promote campaign finance reform. Veteran journalist Elizabeth Drew discusses her new book, Citizen McCain, with former Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan who covered McCain in his bid for the presidency in 2000.

The Presidency of Harry S. Truman

Sunday, April 28, 2002 2:00-4:00 PM

As part of the Kennedy Library's examination of 20th century presidents, noted historians Alan Brinkley and Melvin Leffler led an analysis of our 33rd President who faced challenges not unlike those confronting our country today.

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Is the Human Rights Era Ending?

Monday, April 22, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

Michael Ignatieff, Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights policy at Harvard, leads a discussion concerning whether in the aftermath of September 11, the era of human rights has come and gone.

The U.S. and the Middle East: Strengthening the Dialogue

Thursday, April 11, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan leads a discussion of U.S. humanitarian efforts and how they can be more effective in helping to forge new alliances with those living in the Arab and Muslim world.

Democratic Gubernatorial Debate

Monday, April 1, 2002 6:30-8:00 PM

All of the major Democratic candidates for Governor are invited to discuss the pressing issues facing Massachusetts and to debate who should be the party's challenger to Acting Governor Jane Swift.

Seeking Common Ground: Civil Rights and Human Rights

Friday, March 15, 2002 7:30-9:00 PM

One of the country's best-loved entertainers, Harry Belafonte has also been at the forefront of our nation's struggle for civil rights and the international effort to promote human rights throughout the globe. In this forum, Mr. Belafonte launched a major new civil rights and human rights initiative at the Kennedy Library by reflecting on America's painful history of racial injustice and commenting on the challenges that remain to advance human rights both at home an abroad.  Anthony Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer, moderated.

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Theodore Roosevelt: The White House Years

Tuesday, March 5, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

As part of the Kennedy Library Presidential Historian series, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris discussed his new, best-selling book, Theodore Rex, the second of a proposed three volume biography.

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Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years

Sunday, February 3, 2002 5:30-7:00 PM

Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas, Kennedy biographer Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, and Tiffany executive John Loring  remember Jacqueline Kennedy and her enduring hold on the world's imagination.   Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman moderates. 

Protecting Human Rights

Sunday, January 6, 2002 4:00-5:30 PM

As United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson has traveled the globe in an effort to advance freedom, promote peace, and protect human rights.  In this forum, she will comment on the roles of, and relationship between, the United Nations and the United States in these endeavors.  Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer Anthony Lewis moderates. 

Searching for a Better World in the Face of Terrorism

Sunday, December 9, 2001 4:00-5:30 PM

Prior to the terrorist attack in New York, CARE, one of the world's pre-eminent humanitarian relief and development organizations, was leading the fight against hunger and for healtheir living conditions for the Afghan people.  Join Peter Bell, President of CARE, as he discusses the challenge of protecting those relief workers and the importance of continuing relief efforts in developing countries as a means to combat divison, oppression, and terror at its roots. 

Defending an Open Society

Wednesday, November 14, 2001 5:30-7:00 PM

In responding to terrorism on its own shores, how can the U.S. protect security and civil liberties?  NPR chief legal correspondent Nina Totenberg moderates a panel including John Shattuck, former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and ACLU Washington Director, Michael Horrowitz, Nancy Gertner, and Philip Heymann. 

Race in the Military

Sunday, November 11, 2001 4:00-5:30 PM

As the country commemorates Veterans' Day and faces an unprecedented military threat, Gail Buckley, author of American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm, discusses the long, and at times tortuous history, of African Americans in the U.S. Military.  Gerald Gill, professor of history at Tufts University, moderates. 

The Wrong Response: Recalling the U.S. Internment of the Japanese

Sunday, November 4, 2001 4:00-5:30 PM

Congressman Robert T. Matsui will share his and his family's experience in Japanese internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and will comment on the dangers of a similar backlash against Arab Americans in response to the recent attacks on the U.S.  Kenneth Oye, professor of political science at MIT, will moderate.

Redistricting in Massachusetts: A Community Discussion

Sunday, October 28, 2001 4:00-5:30 PM

Based on the 2000 census data, the Massachusetts Congressional map will be redrawn.  Join State Representative Jarrett Barrios, State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, UMass Boston Professor Paul Watanabe, and other community leaders as they discuss the census, redistricting, and political opportunities for ethnic minorities to have their voices heard. 

Promoting Religious Tolerance in the Face of Religiously Motivated Terrorism

Monday, October 22, 2001 7:00-8:30 PM

One of the most enduring legacies of President Kennedy is his commitment to religious tolerance.  Join our panelists as they confront the religious misunderstandings that continue to fuel divison in our world.  Speakers include Father Bryan Hehir, Dean of the Harvard Divinity School; Professor Leila Ahmed, author of Women and Gender in Islam; Robert Leikind, Director of the New England office of the Anti-Defamation League; Andrew Tarsy, Director of Civil Rights of the Anti Defamation League; and, Ambassador Charles Stith, former minister of the Union United Methodist Church and Ambassador to Tanzania at the time the U.S. Embassy was bombed.  Host of WBUR's The Connection, Dick Gordon, moderates. 

A Conversation with President George Bush

Sunday, May 21, 2000 12:00-1:30 PM

On the eve of the Profile in Courage Award ceremony, Caroline Kennedy will honor President George Bush as part of the Kennedy Library's Distinguished American series.  Following this brief presentation, President Bush will discuss his publihsed collection of letters, All the Best, in a session moderated by John Seigenthaler, Chairman of the Freedom Forum. 

Women in Massachusetts Politics

Sunday, May 7, 2000

For over four decades, Betty Taymor has been an outspoken advocate of women's candidacy for elective office.  In her new memoir Running Against the Wind, she weaves together the fascinating story of her own experience in politics (including her work with John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, and Edward M. Kennedy) with hard hittng narrative on women's deplorable lack of success in breaking through the political glass ceiling in Massachusetts.  Taymor is a former Democratic National Committeewoman and the founder of the Center for Women in Politics at UMass Boston. 

"Mission Control: We have a problem."

Monday, April 17, 2000 5:15-7:00 PM

Marking the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13, NASA Mission Control Director Gene Kranz will discuss his new book, Failure is Not an Option, providing an insider's account of the entire manned space program including the flights of Alan Shepard and John Glenn, Neil Armstrong's moonwalk, and the memorable return to earth of Apollo 13.  Kranz will also discuss Hollywood's dramatization of that historic flight by showing film clips from the movie in which he was portrayed by Ed Harris. 

Robert Frost: The Nation's Poet

Sunday, April 2, 2000 2:00-3:30 PM

President Kennedy described Robert Frost as "one of the granite figures of our time. He was supremely two things: an artist and an American."  In his recent biography, Robert Frost: A Life, Jay Parini analyzes the conflict between Frost's artistic need for solitude and his desire for exposure to the general public  Using a colloquial voice in his verse and courting national leaders such as Eisenhower and Kennedy, Frost earned his position as America's national bard. After viewing clips of Frost's recitation at JFK's inaugural, Jay Parini, poet, novelist, and professor at Middlebury College, will offer his analysis of the final years of one of this century's greatest poets. 

The Making of the President 2000

Sunday, March 5, 2000 2:00-3:30 PM

On the eve of the Massachusetts presidential primbary, former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and Democratic Congressman Barney Frank square off in an analysis of the results of the early primaries and how the major candidates are positioning themselves for the general election campaign.  Moderating the session will be Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan. 

The Struggle for Civil Rights

Tuesday, April 28, 1998 2:00-5:00 PM

Elaine Jones, head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, moderated a panel discussion of the events in the early 1960s that led to the Civil Rights Act.  The panel included civil rights leaders and administration officials involved in the events at the time:  Anthony Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer; Dorothy Cotton, member of the Southern Christian Leadership Council; Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of Medgar Evers, Director of the Mississippi NAACP; Prathia Hall, member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; James Hood, one of the two students integrated into the University of Alabama; Theodore Sorensen, Special Assistant to President Kennedy; Burke Marshall, Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice; Nick Katzenbach, Deputy Attorney General of the United States; and, Ed Williams , State Department official.

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Race and Political Leadership in the South

Tuesday, March 10, 1998 5:30-7:15 PM

President Johnson predicted in 1965 that his party would suffer because of its vigorous support of civil rights. Race, he felt, had always been such an overwhelming factor in the politics of the south, and in many northern states, that the new era of bold attacks on discrimination would inevitably bring a radical change in American politics.  He was right.This forum had three goals: (a) to look at the deep-seated political traditions of leaders in the south; (b) to consider just why southern leaders opposed the civil rights movement so aggressively despite the probability of a successful outcome; and, (c) to discuss the long-term political implications of the civil rights movement and why southern elections have become so competitive since the time of President Johnson. Panelists are Nadine Cohodas, author of Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change and The Band Played Dixie: Race and the Liberal Conscience at Ole Miss; Ray Jenkins, former editor of The Montgomery Journal, special assistant to President Carter and editorial page editor of The Baltimore Sun; and, Curtis Wilkie, reporter for The Boston Globe (stationed in New Orleans), a graduate of the University of Mississippi, covered the civil rights issues in the 1960s.

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