Special Event

Historian, author, and professor Edward T. O'Donnell speaks about his new book on the influential reformer Henry George and the tumultuous period in America known as the Gilded Age (1870-1900). As financial fortunes were soaring ever-higher for a small portion of society, Henry George emerged in the 1880s as a prominent reformer warning against the threats of increasing wealth disparity, inequality, and corporate influence in politics. He played a key role in popularizing some of the foundational ideas of progressivism that shaped U.S. social and economic policy in the 20th century. Today, George’s philosophy is more relevant than ever as America confronts similar questions about poverty, inequality, and corporate power in what some have called a Second Gilded Age. After O’Donnell’s enlightening discussion, take a trolley ride through Green-Wood to visit the monuments of Henry George and other influential reformers.

Join Nancy Rosin, President of the National Valentine Collectors Association, for this time-traveling presentation on valentines and other items that serve as expressions of love. In today's world, valentines are generally relegated to children's classrooms, but in the Victorian era (and before) there was a real need to give and receive tokens of love. Life was often shorter, distances longer, and sometimes friends, family, and lovers said goodbye without knowing if they'd ever communicate again. Objects of affection - be they romantic cards, hand-carved coins, locks of hair, or more - were touchstones for those left behind. Those traditions continued in death and mourning, and in many ways influenced the way we celebrate our modern Valentine's Day.