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What kind of relationships did American presidents have with their fathers? How did these relationships influence them as world leaders—and as fathers themselves? Four experts explore the paternal bonds that have helped shape the course of history.

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Enriched with screen clips from his past films—including The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia—Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, in conversation with Antonio Monda, offers unique insight into the major influences on his career.

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9–9:30 am: Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30–11 am: Program

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The forests of Virginia literally erupted into flames during the 1864 battles for the Wilderness, as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee engaged in a horrific combat in early May. Renowned historians of the era relive all the great military struggles of this period—including Sheridan’s Ride, The Crater, and Jubal Early’s Raid on Washington—a season of thrusts and parries, danger and daring.

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The Civil Rights Movement was a time of turbulence and transition, and those resistant to racial equality at times resorted to acts of violence—and even murder. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a monumental piece of federal legislation to reinforce the voting rights guaranteed in the 14th and 15th amendments and combat the disenfranchisement of racial minorities. Commemorating its 50th anniversary, Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy examines the origins, designs, and consequences of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Note: This event is sold out

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Annie Leibovitz’s Pilgrimage project took her in a new direction. Leibovitz is primarily a portraitist, but for Pilgrimage she chose historical subjects—Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Elvis Presley, among others—who she evoked through landscapes, interiors of houses, and objects. Leibovitz discusses how the project came about and how it evolved.

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It was a “slaughter pen,” Robert E. Lee remarked about his repulse of the Union attack on the heights above Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862. Indeed, the Union defeat nearly changed history. Robert E. Lee’s successful defense of Fredericksburg crushed Union morale, humiliated federal commander Ambrose Burnside, almost upended plans for Emancipation—and undoubtedly prolonged the bloody Civil War. Three experts on this neglected battle re-imagine its power and impact.

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On a quarter-mile strip of land in the bustling city of Canton, China, merchants from China and the Eastern seaboard of America conducted trade from 1784 to the Opium Wars of the 1840s. One of the Chinese merchants was Houqua, considered the wealthiest man in the world when he died, and long a favorite of American merchants. Life and commerce and the personalities involved—both East and West—will be explored through the Chinese export art that recorded this moment in history.

Program support provided in memory of Mary Mayer Tanenbaum.

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Two renowned foreign policy experts return to New-York Historical to discuss the nation’s complicated involvement in contemporary world affairs and the major issues the president and other world leaders are currently tackling.

This program has been canceled due to inclement weather conditions. We apologize for any inconvenience.