Our Lectures

Endowed Chairs

Endowed Chair awards offer select faculty members the chance to bring educational programming to campus for the benefit of their students, colleagues and the public. Many faculty members have invited expert speakers to campus; among them are authors, television commentators and even a Nobel Prize winner.

Upcoming Lectures

Handel Family Endowed Chair to Perpetuate the Legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Roosevelts and Civil Rights - Perspectives on the FDR Library and Museum’s Special Exhibition

Did the Roosevelts’ actions during the mid-20th century civil rights movement fall short, or did they help lay the foundation for future progress—and what can this complex history teach us about today’s ongoing fight for social justice?

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum’s special exhibition, “Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts, 1932-1962,” offers fresh perspectives on the Roosevelts’ intervention in the struggle for Black equality during the Jim Crow era. Through previously unseen letters, images and recordings, the exhibit examines their efforts, with Eleanor Roosevelt’s collaboration with Black civil rights leaders serving as a notable example.

Join a panel of civil rights scholars, researchers and educators as they share insights into the exhibit’s creation, public response and what this pivotal time can teach us about the continued struggle for racial equity.

Panelists: 

Dr. Taneisha N. Means
Associate Professor of Political Science, Vassar College

Jeffrey Urbin
Education Specialist, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

Herman Eberhardt
Supervisory Curator, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum