THE ZEALOT AND THE EMANCIPATOR: JOHN BROWN, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN FREEDOM

H. W. Brands, Jack S. Blanton Chair of History, University of Texas at Austin

Thursday, September 7, 2023 @ 7 pm

Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium

H. W. Brands was born in Oregon, went to college in California, sold cutlery across the American West and earned graduate degrees in mathematics and history in Oregon and Texas. He taught at Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University before joining the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History.

A New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 books, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography for The First American and Traitor to His Class.

He lectures frequently on historical and current events and is a familiar face on national and international television and radio. He publishes history-themed poetry on Twitter and “A User’s Guide to History” on Substack.

In The Zealot and the Emancipator, Brands explores the iconic lives and times of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist John Brown, and their divergent paths in the struggle against American slavery.

RSVP encouraged at: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/

• Free, public event
• Booksigning to follow

THE WORST HARD TIME: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON— MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017—
TIMOTHY EGAN (Photo by Ruth Fremson/ The New York Times) .

Timothy Egan

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 @ 7 pm

Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium

Timothy Egan is an acclaimed writer and veteran chronicler of the American experience, whose interests range across history and landscape, and into the spiritual realm. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, a popular columnist, and bestselling author of nine books.

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, inspired the Ken Burns film The Dust Bowl and won the National Book Award. A haunting tribute to the human spirit, this extraordinary true story of disaster, endurance, and courage testifies to the remarkable men and women who braved one the worst hard times in America’s history.

Presented by the Michael J. Colligan History Project, with generous support from Hamilton Community Foundation.

RSVP encouraged at: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/

• Free, public event
• Booksigning to follow

FREDERICK DOUGLASS: PROPHET OF FREEDOM

David W. Blight

The John E. Dolibois History Prize Lecture

Thursday, March 30, 2023 @ 7 pm

Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium

The Michael J. Colligan History Project is proud to announce this year’s winner of the John E. Dolibois History Prize. David W. Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University.

Blight is the author of numerous bestselling books on American history, including his acclaimed 2018 biography of renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, which has won over seven book awards including the Pulitzer Prize in History, the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, the Bancroft Prize for History, and the Francis Parkman Prize.

Presented by the Michael J. Colligan History Project, with generous support from Hamilton Community Foundation.

RSVP encouraged at: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/

• Free, public event
• Booksigning to follow

UKRAINE: PERSONAL, HISTORICAL, & GEOPOLITICAL PERSPECTIVES

October 13, 2022 @ 7pm

Miami Hamilton Downtown Center, 221 High Street, Hamilton OH45011

Join us at the Colligan History Project Thursday, October 13 at 7pm for a special roundtable discussion Ukraine: Personal, Historical, and Geopolitical Perspectives, one week ahead of our keynote Colligan lecture by Catherine Grace Katz.

Panelists from Miami University are:

• Dr. Matthew Smith, Director, Michael J. Colligan History Project (moderator)
• Dr. Stephen Norris, Director, Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies
• Dr. Neringa Klumbyte, Miami University Department of Anthropology
• Dr. Liza Skryzhevska, Miami Regionals Associate Dean, Department of Geography

Audience Q&A to follow. Co-sponsored by the Havighurst Center and Hamilton’s One City, One Book reading program.

• Both the Ukraine roundtable on October 13, and Catherine Grace Katz on October 20 are free and open to the public, but rsvp strongly encouraged: miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp

THE DAUGHTERS OF YALTA

Catherine Grace Katz

• Catherine Grace Katz
• Thursday October 20, 2022 @ 7pm
• Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium, 1601 University Bvd, Hamilton OH45011

The Michael J. Colligan History Project proudly welcomes Catherine Grace Katz, author of The Daughters of Yalta, in conjunction with Hamilton’s “One City, One Book” public reading program.

Tensions during the Yalta Conference in February 1945 threatened to tear apart the alliance among Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin just as victory in World War II was close at hand. Catherine Grace Katz uncovers the dramatic story of the three young women chosen by their fathers to travel with them to Yalta, bound by fierce family loyalty, political savvy, and intertwined romances that powerfully colored these crucial days.

Kathleen Harriman was a champion skier, war correspondent, and daughter of U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman. Sarah Churchill, an actress-turned-RAF officer, was devoted to her brilliant father, who depended on her astute political mind. Roosevelt’s only daughter, Anna, chosen instead of her mother Eleanor to accompany the president to Yalta, arrived there as keeper of her father’s most damaging secrets.

***

“Catherine Grace Katz paints a vivid portrait of one of history’s great international summits through the eyes of three young women, each a daughter of a key participant.  We get the inside story, and learn the compelling details that bring history to life.” 

— Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile

• Free public lecture; audience Q&A/ booksigning to follow.
• RSVP strongly encouraged: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/
• This event proudly presented in association with Hamilton’s “One City, One Book” public reading program

CHASING HISTORY: AN EVENING WITH CARL BERNSTEIN

Stony Brook University; Carl Bernstein at the Newseum in DC

• Carl Bernstein
• Thursday March 3, 2022 @ 7pm
• Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium

The Michael J. Colligan History Project welcomes the legendary Carl Bernstein for a unique evening of personal reminiscence, historical anecdote, and insightful reflection. A Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist famed for his Washington Post exposure of the Watergate scandal, Bernstein’s books, reporting, and commentary have revealed the inner workings of American government and politics for over forty years.

Bernstein draws on his new memoir Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom (Henry Holt & Co., 2022), which chronicles his early years as a budding reporter. Working his way up from a 16 year-old copy boy at the Washington Star, Bernstein rose through the ranks to cover a wide range of stories as a young reporter in our nation’s capital. Bernstein’s book reflects on these early years, covering everything from the Kennedy administration to the Civil Rights movement to the slew of grisly crime scenes which he covered.

Link to CBS profile of Chasing History.

• Free public lecture; audience Q&A/ booksigning to follow.
• RSVP strongly encouraged: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/
• NOTE: At the time of writing, Miami University requires everyone to wear facemasks on campus. Any changes in policy will be publicly communicated to all visitors in advance of this event. Thank you for your consideration of this requirement.

Leadership in Turbulent Times

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin

The John E. Dolibois History Prize Lecture

Thursday, October 21 @ 7 pm

Miami University Hamilton, Parrish Auditorium

As the United States and the world grapple with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s “historian-in-chief” Doris Kearns Goodwin reflects upon our shared past to put into context this defining moment in our nation’s history: A crisis so daunting, so deadly and economically damaging that it has completely upended our everyday lives. Not since the Great Depression and World War II have we experienced such collective hardships. Drawing from her most recent book, Leadership In Turbulent Times, Goodwin transports us back to that era to provide perspective and analysis as she helps us understand how President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s leadership created a triple alliance among government, business and the American people that helped us endure sacrifices, achieve an astonishing productivity, and initiate systemic changes that ultimately showed our resilience and helped us persevere and triumph. History provides lessons. History provides solace. History provides hope.

RSVP required at: https://miamioh.edu/regionals/rsvp/

• Free, public event
• Co-sponsored by the Menard Family Center for Democracy
• NOTE: As of August 9, 2021 Miami University requires everyone to wear facemasks on campus. Any changes in policy will be publicly communicated to all visitors in advance of this event. Thank you for your consideration of this requirement.

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

James R. Hansen, Auburn University

Thursday, April 22 @ 7pm

Historian James R. Hansen has written on the history of science and aerospace technology for the past 30 years. His New York Times bestselling authorized biography First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong (2005), was adapted into the award-winning film First Man (2019). His presentation, marking Earth Day 2021, highlights the dramatic triumphs and challenges faced by Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission.

• Free online lecture, registration required
• RSVP online: MiamiOH.edu/Regionals/RSVP

Pandemics in Historical Perspective: An Online Discussion

October 26, 2020 @ 7 PM

To register online, go to:

https://miamioh.edu/regionals/arts-culture/colligan-project/pandemics-in-history/

COVID-19 is a global pandemic on a scale not seen for over a century. Beyond its human toll, it has brought economic chaos, social change, and huge burdens on everyday life.

And yet we’ve been here before. From cholera to Spanish Flu to coronavirus, global pandemics are the great forgotten sagas of history, reshaping society in their deadly wake.

Join us for a lively online panel focusing on historical perspectives, the challenges of the current crisis, and building stronger, more resilient communities as we learn from these difficult times.

• How did past generations cope with the experience of pandemics?
• What lessons can be drawn at the community level?
• What are the prospects for economic recovery, cultural reinvention, and civic leadership?

Panelists:

• Dr. Matthew Smith, Michael J. Colligan History Project (moderator)
• Dr. Susan Spellman: Miami University Regionals
• Dr. Jim Harris: The Ohio State University
• Mr. Ian MacKenzie-Thurley: Executive Director, Fitton Center for Creative Arts
• Mr. Joshua Smith: City Manager (City of Hamilton)
• Ms. Kathy Creighton: Executive Director, Butler County Historical Society

Brief panel comments will be followed by moderated audience Q & A.

A Message to the Community

Dear Friends,

You likely will have heard the news, but I wanted to confirm that Miami University this week announced some emergency measures that will affect our programming. Miami University has no confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus, but in response to Governor DeWine’s statewide declaration of emergency, together with advice from Ohio’s Department of Health, Miami has chosen to move all face-to-face classes online and cancel large gatherings of people through April 12.

 

This necessary public health move affects numerous events this semester, including the spring Colligan series. Sadly therefore, I regret that the March 26 screening of the film First Man and the April 2 lecture by James R. Hansen are cancelled. As the situation gets better we will keep you posted on any developments and any rescheduling. I predict that our fall schedule will remain unaffected. Although the recent global news has been discouraging, I look forward to welcoming you all back to our campus once the corner has been turned and life gets back to normal!

Keep well, keep calm, and keep in touch.

Matthew Smith,

Director, Michael J. Colligan History Project