Dr. Ed Welch
Richard Andre
Davitt McAteer
Anne Freeman with Mary Lee Settle
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.
