2016 Elsa Soderberg Distinguished Speaker Series: Brent Glass

Brent Glass, Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, will take the stage as the guest speaker for the Seward House Museum’s 2016 Elsa Soderberg Distinguished Speaker Series.  Glass will speak Thursday November 10, 2016 at the Auburn Public Theater.

Glass recently published 50 Great American Places, which explores the power of essential historic sites and how they illuminate core themes in American history.  The book highlights several New York locations with a focus on the Finger Lakes Region in Chapter 19:  Declaration of Sentiments, which is dedicated to Seneca Falls and the Women’s Suffrage movement.  In this chapter, Glass mentions the connection between the Seward family and Harriet Tubman.  To connect Seneca Falls and the Auburn sites Glass states that these places “commemorate alliances that transcended race, gender, and partisan politics at a time when Americans were still defining democracy.”

Glass will be the fourth guest speaker hosted by the Seward House Museum.  The inaugural event took place in 2012 with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, historian and political commentator Doris Kearns Goodwin.  The Elsa Soderberg Distinguished Speaker Series began in 2012 as a fundraiser to honor the legacy of William H. Seward, Secretary of State for President Lincoln, by bringing national public figures to speak about politics, history and the importance of cultural sites. 

The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm at the Auburn Public Theater.  There will be a VIP Reception and Book Signing at 5:00 - 6:30 pm at the Springside Inn.

Admission: Lecture $35 & VIP $75 (does not include admission to lecture)
For more information call (315) 252-1283