Michael J. Colligan History Project launches 10th season with "monumental" line-up
September 10, 2009
Interim Director of the Michael J. Colligan History Project, Dr. Bob Meckley, recently announced the line-up of speakers for the popular lecture series. This year's theme, "Monumental Moments," brings a mix of new faces and old favorites.
As usual, all events begin at 7:30PM
in the Harry T. Wilks Conference Center, and are
followed by a free, public reception. Save the following dates:
The 10th anniversary season of the Michael J. Colligan History Project's lecture series gets off to a cracking start with Miami Hamilton assistant history professor Dr. Martin Johnson's talk on Lincoln at Hamilton and the New Birth of Freedom.
In 1859, Abraham Lincoln came to Hamilton to take part in a fiercely partisan electoral struggle, but at the same time he was beginning to develop the rhetoric and ideas that would take shape during the Civil War as the “new birth of freedom” announced in the Gettysburg Address.
Johnson explores the ways that Lincoln’s journey from Hamilton in 1859 to Gettysburg in 1863 foreshadowed and enacted our national journey toward greater freedom and equality, toward the more perfect union promised in the Constitution and sought by Lincoln. In this bicentennial year of President Lincoln's birth, this is an event not to be missed.
Dr. Kathleen Dalton, renowned Roosevelt scholar, discusses Theodore
Roosevelt’s relationship with the naturalist John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club and was an early advocate for the preservation of the American wilderness—especially the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California and what is today Yosemite and Sequoia national parks.
In John Muir meets Theodore Roosevelt, Dalton reveals that Roosevelt and Muir had much in common; in particular, both were avid and hearty outdoorsmen. Dalton is professor of History at Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.
Celebrating the 100th Colligan event, Miami University Professor of History and American Studies, Dr. Curt Ellison, takes a look at the local history of an architectural style that was brought to Miami University principally by one 20th century architect, Charles Cellarius, who designed thirty campus buildings between 1939 and 1970.
In Charles Cellarius and Miami’s Architectural Heritage, Ellison explains why an image of orderly red brick architecture adorned with cupolas came to define the Miami campus in Oxford, generated lively controversy, and became Miami’s most visible brand.
Leading Hamilton historian Jim Blount introduces a panel of Korean War veterans and invites them to share their stories of the conflict in The Forgotten War: Stories of Korean Veterans. This event will be preceded by a veterans' appreciation reception for local veterans and their families. More information to be announced soon.
The Michael J. Colligan History Project is a joint undertaking of the Colligan Fund Committee of the Hamilton Community Foundation and the Hamilton Campus of Miami University. It is made possible by the generous bequest of Michael J. Colligan, a prominent local businessman and amateur historian. Learn more about the Project at www.ham.muohio.edu/colliganproject.
