2008
LITTLE LECTURE SERIES
The series
this year once again offers a fine variety of interesting topics presented
by outstanding speakers. Little Lectures provide intellectually stimulating
discussions in the comfortable surroundings of the MacFarland-Hubbard
House, a 1836 Greek Revival house that serves as the offices for the Humanities
Council. Invite friends and family to come along and discover our historic
home and to learn from some of the region’s most respected scholars
and presenters.
The
four lectures are held on Sunday afternoons and begin at 2:00 p.m. A wine
reception follows with the speaker. Admission to each lecture is $10.
Seating is limited (thus “Little Lectures”), so when possible
please let us know in advance if you plan to attend.
2008 Little Lecture
Series Schedule
"In
God We Trust" - So What?
Dr. Ed Welch
February 24 ~ 2:00 p.m.
Our national
motto first appeared on U.S. coins at a time of increased religious sentiment
during the Civil War. The phrase can be traced to the final verse of the
“Star Spangled Banner.” But what does it mean in today’s
world? Does that sentiment still hold true and what is the historical
context of religion in America?
University
of Charleston President Ed Welch considers these questions and the function
of civil religion in modern society in the kick-off presentation for the
2008 Little Lecture Series. Dr. Welch is a graduate of Boston University
School of Theology, holds a Ph.D. in Social Ethics and is an ordained
minister in the United Methodist Church. He has been President of the
University of Charleston since 1989.
Museum Without Walls: Charleston's Spring
Hill Cemetery Park
Richard Andre
March 30 ~ 2:00 p.m.
Overlooking
the city of Charleston, Spring Hill Cemetery Park harkens back to the
Victorian period of memorial gardens. Admitted to the National Register
of Historic Places in 1985, Spring Hill was officially established in
1869 as the municipal burial grounds for Charleston and used as early
as 1818. It is the final resting place for many key figures in state and
local history. The grounds are one of West Virginia’s earliest examples
of landscape architecture and offer a variety of striking monument styles.
A long-term program for improvement and development of the cemetery is
now in place.
Richard Andre
is Chairman of the Charleston Cemetery Commission, President of the Spring
Hill Cemetery Endowment, and presents the historical photo series, “The
Way it Was” for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. He co-authored
the Kanawha County Images books that offer a visual record of
Charleston and surrounding areas dating from the mid-1800s.
The Monongah Mine Disaster of 1907
Davitt McAteer
April 27 ~ 2:00 p.m.
On the morning
of December 6, 1907, life changed forever in the small Marion County town
of Monongah. More than 500 men and boys perished when horrific explosions
ripped through mines operated by the Fairmont Coal Company. Frantic wives,
mothers, sweethearts and others who huddled at the opening of the mines
during rescue efforts rendered a scene described at the time as “pitiful
in the extreme.” It remains the worst industrial accident in American
history.
Davitt McAteer
put over twenty years of research into his new book Monongah: The
Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster, the Worst Industrial
Accident in U.S. History (WVU Press, 2007). The Marion County native
is internationally recognized as an expert on mine and workplace health
and safety. His testimony before the U.S. Congress on mine conditions
resulted in passage of the Miner Act of 2006. The author will sign copies
of the book available at the lecture.
The
Last Memoir of Mary Lee Settle
Anne Hobson Freeman
June 1 ~ 2:00 p.m.
Raised in
Kanawha County during the Depression, writer Mary Lee Settle left on a
worldwide journey that would produce more than twenty books on topics
ranging from expatriates in Turkey to her grandmother in Cedar Grove.
She crossed the Atlantic twelve times by boat, lost her American citizenship
once, wrote for Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire, volunteered
for Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during WWII, won
the National Book Award, was a fashion model, and tested for the role
of Scarlet O’Hara.
At the time
of her death at age 87 in 2005, Settle was working on her autobiography,
Learning to Fly. Anne Hobson Freeman spent more than a year retrieving
material left by Settle and edited the book for publication by W.W. Norton
& Co. in 2007. Freeman will discuss her work on Learning to Fly
and will sign copies available at the lecture.
The
Humanities Council is excited to have such a stellar line up of speakers
for our Little Lecture Series in 2008. The programs are an informal and
fun way to interact with exceptionally talented and learned presenters
from interesting walks of life.
Contact
the Program Officer
