Many of the most vivid writings in Henry David Thoreau’s journals were inspired by the plants and animals that inhabit the sprawling fields, forests, and wetlands of Concord and nearby communities. An inveterate year-round rambler and keen and thoughtful observer, Thoreau wrote frequently about these creatures, faithfully recording each sighting or encounter with the accuracy of a scientist and the deep spirituality of a transcendentalist and mystic. In this lecture, GEOFF WISNER will present Thoreau’s profound spirituality and belief in the…

The Boston Athenaeum welcomes the author of Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War Two. Journalist, political commentator, and New York Times bestselling author LIZA MUNDY reveals in her new book the riveting story of courage, service, and accomplishment of a group of remarkable young women who were recruited to work as cryptographers during World War II--a story nearly erased from history due to a strict vow of silence. Registration for this event is not required. Members free and…

In his most recent book, CULLEN MURPHY, author of God's Jury and Are We Rome?, editor-at-large at Vanity Fair and former managing editor of The Atlantic Monthly-- tells a personal story, about his own relationship with his father, the talented artist behind the popular comic strips Prince Valiant and Big Ben Blot. Sharing never-before-seen photographs, cartoons, drawings, Murphy's Cartoon County gives us a glimpse into a very special community-- and into an America that used to be.

The Boston Athenaeum is proud to host NANCY KOEHN, author of Forged in Crisis, The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times. This enthralling historical narrative by Harvard Business School historian NANCY KOEHN spotlights five masters of crisis: polar explorer Ernest Shackleton; President Abraham Lincoln; legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass; Nazi-resisting clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer; and environmental crusader Rachel Carson. Registration is required. Members $15 and Visitors $20

Paris 7 A.M.: A Novel Liza Wieland The acclaimed, award-winning author Liza Wieland of A Watch of Nightingales imagines in a sweeping and stunning novel what happened to the poet Elizabeth Bishop during three life-changing weeks she spent in Paris in 1937--the only year Elizabeth, a meticulous keeper of journals, didn't fully chronicle. Amidst the imminent threat of World War II, the novel brings us in vivid detail from Paris to Normandy where Elizabeth becomes involved with a group rescuing…

Up Close Tours encourage visitors to look closely at materials from the Athenæum’s rich collections and consider them within a particular context. Boston Athenæum Docent Dale Linder will investigate objects in the Athenæum’s special collections that shed light on the nation’s early history. Join the discussion and get up close to busts of founding fathers that once graced the halls of Monticello and portraits by some of the United States’ most renowned painters. This 30-minute tour will delight whether you’ve seen Hamilton or not.

It is WWII in Berlin, Germany, and Hanni Kohn must send her 12-year-0ld daughter Lea away to protect her from the Nazi regime. She finds her way to a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes…

The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution with Eric Foner There are perhaps no more consequential and inspiring amendments to the United States Constitution than those ratified in the wake of the Civil War, establishing equality for the first time in American law. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments—known as the Reconstruction amendments—abolished slavery, provided for birthright citizenship, guaranteed equal protection of the laws and due process to all, and expanded the suffrage to black…

The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution with Ben Railton "We the People." The Constitution begins with those deceptively simple words, but how do Americans define that "We"? In his new book We the People, Ben Railton argues that throughout our history two competing yet interconnected concepts have battled to define our national identity and community: exclusionary and inclusive visions of who gets to be an American. From the earliest moments of European contact with…

Registration is required Members Free and Non-members Free with admission ($10) In Dawson’s Fall, a novel based on the lives of Roxana Robinson’s great-grandparents, we see America at its most fragile, fraught, and malleable. Set in 1889, in Charleston, South Carolina, Robinson’s tale weaves her family’s journal entries and letters with a novelist’s narrative grace, and spans the life of her tragic hero, Frank Dawson, as he attempts to navigate the country’s new political, social, and moral landscape. Dawson, a…

Registration is required Free and open to the public This long-overdue biography reestablishes William Monroe Trotter’s essential place next to Douglass, Du Bois, and King in the pantheon of American civil rights heroes. William Monroe Trotter (1872– 1934), though still virtually unknown to the wider public, was an unlikely American hero. With the stylistic verve of a newspaperman and the unwavering fearlessness of an emancipator, he galvanized black working- class citizens to wield their political power despite the violent racism…

Registration is required Members Free and Non-members Free with admission ($10) Plymouth Colony First Lady Penelope Winslow: Reconstructing a Life through Material Culture with Michelle Marchetti Coughlin Penelope Pelham Winslow was a member of the English gentry (her third great-grandmother was Anne Boleyn's sister Mary) who was married to Plymouth Colony Governor Josiah Winslow. Although she was one of the most powerful women in Plymouth's history, she, like most of her female contemporaries, has been largely forgotten. Penelope authored or…