The National Archives Hosts Noontime Book Lectures and Films

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The National Archives Hosts Noontime Book Lectures and Films in December

Washington, DC. . . The National Archives presents a series of noontime programs this December on topics ranging from antebellum America to Lady Bird Johnson’s enduring legacy. These lectures and films are free and no registration is required. All programs will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives building in Washington, DC, which is located on the National Mall and is fully accessible. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW.

FILM: Thirteen Days
Saturday, December 8, at noon
In conjunction with the exhibit “To the Brink: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” the National Archives will screen Thirteen Days. Based on the book The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow, the film stars Bruce Greenwood as President John F. Kennedy, Steven Culp as Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Kevin Costner as Special Assistant Kenneth O’Donnell. Directed by Roger Donaldson. (2000; 145 minutes)

BOOK LECTURE: Prigg v. Pennsylvania: Slavery, the Supreme Court, and the Ambivalent Constitution
Monday, December 10, at noon
Margaret Morgan’s parents were slaves of John Ashmore, a Maryland mill owner. Margaret, who was never claimed a slave by Ashmore, married a free black man, and moved to Pennsylvania. After Ashmore’s death, his widow sent Edward Prigg to Pennsylvania to claim Margaret as a runaway. Both Margaret and her children were forcibly sent back to Maryland in violation of Pennsylvania law, setting the stage for a Supreme Court case in 1842. Professor H. Robert Baker discusses his book Prigg v. Pennsylvania and the results of this landmark case. A book signing will follow the program. This program is presented in partnership with the National Archives’ Afro-American History Society.

FILM: A Life: The Story of Lady Bird Johnson
Tuesday, December 11, at noon
Written, directed, and narrated by Charles Guggenheim, A Life celebrates Lady Bird Johnson’s life starting with her youth in a remote town in Texas to her marriage to one of the most powerful and complex men in American politics, and her emergence as a leader in her own right. (1992; 57 minutes)

BOOK LECTURE: Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union
Friday, December 14, at noon
During the critical period between September 22, 1862, when Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, and January 1, 1863, when he signed the final altered decree, Lincoln struggled to lead a nation through a war as he debated with foes and worked to meet the expectations of millions of enslaved peoples. Professor and author Louis P. Masur tells Lincoln’s story and struggle in his work Lincoln’s Hundred Days. A book signing will follow the program.

BOOK LECTURE: The Fire of Freedom: Abraham Galloway and the Slaves’ Civil War
Wednesday, December 19, at noon
Abraham Galloway was an abolitionist and Union spy who rose out of bondage to become one of the most significant black leaders in the South during the Civil War. In The Fire of Freedom, Historian David Cecelski discusses the life and legacy of Galloway, who led a delegation of black southerners to the White House to meet with President Lincoln to demand the full rights of citizenship. A book signing will follow the program. This program is presented in partnership with the National Archives’ Afro-American History Society.

The National Archives is fully accessible, and Assisted Listening Devices are available in the McGowan Theater upon request. To request a sign language interpreter for a public program, please send an email to public.program@nara.gov or call 202-357-5000 at least two weeks prior to the event. To verify dates and times of the programs, call 202-357-5000 or view the Calendar of Events online at: www.archives.gov/calendar. To contact the National Archives, please call 1-866-272-6272 or 1-86-NARA-NARA (TDD 301-837-0482).

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For press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs Staff at 202-357-5300.

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