|
|
 |
The General Society Calendar of Events
Labor, Landmarks and Literature Lecture Series
|
LITERATURE
THE NATION NOW
Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation is America’s oldest weekly magazine. For over 140 years, The Nation has covered politics, culture, books and the arts. Today The Nation is America’s most widely-read journal of political thought and is thriving online as well as in print. Participating editors and writers in the series will offer their unique perspectives as part of an overview of this critical, independent voice in American journalism.
(Click here for the first event). |
LANDMARKS
AT HOME IN NEW YORK CITY
In a town driven by commerce, New York City’s homes reveal not just the economics of their times, but also their social and cultural environment. Our series will start in the early days of the republic, when a proud and young city began to develop its own distinctly American style. Later, designers produced some of the grandest urban homes ever imagined, and others that answered the needs of the middle class. We will conclude with a look at the challenge of housing New Yorkers in 2030.
(Click here for the first event). |
LABOR
BY HAMMER AND HAND ALL ARTS DO STAND
New York’s cultural life is a product of both art and science. In celebration of this fact, and in honor of the motto of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, “By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand,” this series celebrates the marriage of art and science in the creation of the vibrant culture of the city.
(Click here for the first event). |
Reservations are strongly recommended as seating in The General Society Library is limited. Admission is $15, $10 for members and $5 for students. Special Series Package: All Twelve Lectures: $90. (Please note the January 8th lecture is free.) Admission tickets are not mailed. Your name will be held at the door.
 This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional thanks to The Nation magazine for their support, and to Janet Wells Greene, curator of the “Labor” lectures and Franny Eberhart, curator of the “Landmark” lectures. |
|
All events are hosted in the General Society building at 20 West 44th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues) in New York City and will take place on a Tuesday at 6pm. For more information, please call the Society at 212.921.1767.
Tickets can be purchased online. We accept all major forms of payment online.
     
To request a brochure for "Labor, Literature and Landmarks", email library@generalsociety.org or click here to download the PDF.
|
|
[view past events]
|
|
| Tuesday October 9 6:00pm 2007 |
The Nation: Is Peace Possible?
Jonathan Schell, Nation Correspondent
Known for his empathy, humor and hope, Jonathan Schell is The Nation’s peace and disarmament correspondent. His latest book, The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger, will be published in November. The book examines threats posed to the world by nuclear power and continuing arms development. Mr. Schell will share excerpts from the book and discuss disarmament, the promise of peace and the state of the anti-war movement today.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday October 16 6:00 pm 2007 |
New York Brownstones: Icons of a Great City
Charles Lockwood, Architectural Historian and Author
The author of the indispensable Bricks and Brownstone was described by The New Yorker as the "consummate authority" on this iconic building type. His recent research has uncovered many surprising facts and long-forgotten historical photographs. Mr. Lockwood will discuss the evolution of the New York row house from the 1820s onward, describe the daily lives of their occupants, and illustrate how brownstones were designed, built, and sold 100 to 150 years ago.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday October 30 at 6:00 pm 2007 |
Words on the Street: From the Sidewalk to the Sky
Paul Shaw, Principal, Paul Shaw/Letter Design
Paul Shaw, calligrapher, typographer and design historian, reveals another dimension to architecture through an illustrated lecture on environmental lettering in New York. Learn more about the skills and artistic considerations necessary to select, design and create letters in stone, neon, paint, and other materials for buildings by looking at examples throughout the city.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday November 13 6:00 pm 2007 |
The Piano: Hammer and Hands
Benjamin Treuhaft, Vice-President of the NYC Piano Technicians Guild.
Music by The Orfeo Duo: Ishmael Wallace, piano; Vita Wallace, violin
This program is a tribute to the many piano makers and manufacturers in New York’s past. Benjamin Treuhaft will take apart The General Society’s 1883 Weber grand piano and demonstrate how its mechanisms differ from those of Steinway, Weber’s rival piano manufacturer. Following this demonstration, The Orfeo Duo will offer music played by New Yorkers in their homes in the 1880s.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, January 8 2008 |
Up From Zero: A Documentary Film on the Cleanup of Ground Zero
Edward J. Malloy, President, The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
Join us for the first public screening of Up From Zero, a documentary film produced by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2003 as a record of the cleanup work at Ground Zero. The film includes interviews with workers from the site.
Admission is free. But please note that advance reservations are required.
|
|
| Tuesday January 22 6:00 pm 2008 |
Capitalist Castles
Mosette Broderick, Director, Architecture and Urban Design Program at New York University, College of Arts and Science
The city’s most affluent 19th century barons commissioned its most accomplished architects, designers, and craftspeople to build and embellish their homes. Professor Broderick, author of a new monograph on architect Stanford White, will take us inside these now vanished landmarks, where we will also get to know their creators and marvel at the extravagance of their lives as an art form.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday January 29 6:00 pm 2008 |
The Nation: Diary of a Mad Law Professor
Patricia J. Williams, Nation Columnist
Patricia J. Williams, a professor of law at Columbia University and a MacArthur Fellow, writes The Nation monthly column, "Diary of a Mad Law Professor." Her provocative, lively pieces astutely examine ongoing legal, political, moral and cultural issues. Professor Williams will talk about her column and the new genre of legal writing that she has introduced to America.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday February 19th 6pm 2008 |
The Suburban Option: Garden Apartments in 20th Century New York City
Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler, Associate Professor, Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The garden apartment, so familiar and ubiquitous today (except in Manhattan!), was a new building type that transformed the urban landscape and the lifestyle of an emerging middle class. In the early 20th century a number of the city’s most influential activists and intellectuals lived in these complexes. Dr. Kroessler leads the effort to bring appreciation and protection to these important, and still treasured, but threatened homes.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday February 26 6:00pm 2008 |
The Nation: Reflections from the Editor
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Nation Editor and Publisher
Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, America's oldest weekly magazine, will reflect on the magazine’s 142-year history and offer her views on the role of The Nation in turbulent political waters. Ms. vanden Heuvel will share some of her plans for the growth of the magazine and discuss the challenges facing print media in the new electronic frontier.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday March 4 6:00 pm 2008 |
Metalworkers for a New Century
Jean Wiart, President, LMC Corporation
The restoration of the torch on the Statue of Liberty was the first of many restoration projects in New York City by Jean Wiart and his crew of classically-trained metalworkers. This lecture will illustrate how “old trades produce products of great worth,” both in the creation and the restoration of metalwork, in public and private buildings in America.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday March 11 6:00pm 2008 |
New York City Housing Futures
Shampa Chanda, Assistant Commissioner for Planning New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development
With the city’s real estate booming as never before, the challenge of housing 21st century New Yorkers is daunting. The city estimates that we will need 265,000 more housing units by 2030. Assistant Commissioner Chanda will outline the Bloomberg administration’s housing initiatives as part of its comprehensive plaNYC. Where will this new housing go, what will it look like, and who will be living there?
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
| Tuesday March 25 6:00pm 2008 |
The Nation: Politics at the Center of the Storm
John Nichols, Nation Washington Correspondent
A pioneering political blogger with The Nation’s “Online Beat” and the magazine’s Washington correspondent, John Nichols is one of America’s most respected political writers and experts on impeachment and the constitution. Mr. Nichols will share stories from the center of the political world, describing life as a Nation correspondent and offering his insights into the 2008 election.
| Non Member Price - $15 |
|
| Member Price - $10 |
|
| Student Price - $5 |
|
| Series Package (All 12 Lectures) - $90 |
|
|
|
