History Forum: Benjamin Franklin

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Dec. 12, 2009

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

Talented polymath Benjamin Franklin focused most of his long life and his prodigious energy on politics. Through his own experiences in America’s early political and civic life, Franklin acquired a deep insight into the ways human nature complicates government and developed a clear-eyed, still relevant concept of the imperative role citizens must play in maintaining liberty and democracy.

Explore Benjamin Franklin’s search for the keys to sustainable democracy with Lorraine Pangle, scholar of American political thought and ethics, author of "The Political Philosophy of Benjamin Franklin and Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas-Austin."

Forum guests are encouraged to tour the new History Center exhibit "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World" before of after the lecture.

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History Forum: General George Marshall

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Jan. 30, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

A humble, but blunt and pragmatic planner, General George C. Marshall directed both the largest war-time army and the largest post-war recovery plan in U.S. history. After helping America win World War II, he sold us on the Marshall Plan to rebuild what had been destroyed, challenging the United States to lead in war and peace.

Explore General Marshall’s quest to repair a world devastated by war with U.S. foreign relations and military history scholar and author of George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century, Mark A. Stoler, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vermont.

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History Forum: Margaret Sanger

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Feb. 20, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

As a public health nurse in the New York slums, Margaret Sanger worked with hundreds of mothers who wanted to ease their families’ path out of poverty by preventing unintended pregnancies, but had no safe way to do so. The experience inspired Sanger to launch a 50-year crusade to legalize birth control and sex education, altering American ideas about personal liberty along the way.

Explore Margaret Sanger’s battle for women’s reproductive freedom with Ellen Chesler, historian and author of the Sanger biography "Woman of Valor," and director of Hunter College’s Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative on Women and Public Policy at Roosevelt House.

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History Forum: Frederick Douglass, In Search of A Better World

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: March 6, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Series subscription: $76; $54 MHS members, on sale September 1. Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21, pending availability.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

As a former slave who became one of America’s greatest social critics, Frederick Douglass spent a lifetime speaking truth to power. Motivated by a persistent faith in racial equality and a belief that ending slavery would save America’s soul, Douglass used the power of words to navigate the wilderness of pre-Civil War race relations, and helped guide the United States out of bondage.

Explore Frederick Douglass’ quest for a path to equality with David Blight, leading Douglass scholar, two-time PBS historical advisor, award-winning author of "Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory," and Class of 1954 Professor of History at Yale University.

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