Americana – Page 7 – The Rosenbach

Sold Out – In Conversation with the Rosenbach: Emily Bazelon on Federalist Paper No. 83

Date / Time

March 6, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

The Framers loved juries. They put the right to trial by jury into the Constitution because “they were unwilling to trust the government” to mark it out, Justice Antonin Scalia has written. Today, fully 95 percent of state criminal cases that end in conviction are resolved without a jury, by guilty pleas. The same is true for about 90 percent of federal criminal cases. Why has the jury vanished, and without it, can our adversarial system render real justice?

Singing the Bay Psalm Book

Date / Time

April 19, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Singers from Craftworks bring to life Psalms from the first book printed in America, punctuated with readings from the poems of Anne Bradstreet.

Course: Dystopias

Date / Time

April 26, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
May 10, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
May 24, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
June 7, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:45 pm

In this four-week course, participants will explore popular literary dystopias, from 1984 and The Handmaids’ Tale to “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and M.T. Anderson’s Feed. We’ll look at the language of dystopia, how authors across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries examine dystopian societies, and more.

In Conversation with the Rosenbach: Jeff Rosen

Date / Time

November 14, 2017
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Jeff Rosen is CEO of the Constitution Center and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute.

Hands-On Tour: Love Letters

Date / Time

October 6, 2017
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Join us for this rare peek into some of the most personal and emotional writing in our collections. From the aching yearnings of poet John Keats to the dying wishes of a Civil War solider, the Rosenbach is home to a variety of love letters. Spend an hour getting up-close and personal with a variety of treasures, including correspondence from Marlene Dietrich to Mercedes De Acosta and handwritten pages from James Joyce’s Ulysses.

To Catch a Thief in the Days before Detectives

Sara DavisJune 5, 2017June 10, 2017

In 1750, Philadelphia was plagued by a series of domestic robberies over several weeks. The items targeted were primarily the luxury goods that were becoming increasingly available to residents who had financial means: jewelry, fine cloth, good silver. Although the colony of Pennsylvania was still largely an agricultural economy, the City of Brotherly Love was …

Hands-On Tour: Founding Fathers

Date / Time

July 7, 2017
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Examining the letters and papers of America’s founding fathers offers a rare opportunity to understand these historical leaders as fathers, lovers, intellectuals, and revolutionaries. Artifacts from George Washington (including one of his earliest letters), Thomas Jefferson (including his scientific notes), John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin form the core of the tour.

Hands-On Tour: Founding Fathers

Date / Time

June 30, 2017
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Examining the letters and papers of America’s founding fathers offers a rare opportunity to understand these historical leaders as fathers, lovers, intellectuals, and revolutionaries. Artifacts from George Washington (including one of his earliest letters), Thomas Jefferson (including his scientific notes), John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin form the core of the tour.

Hands-On Tour: Sleuths and Spies

Date / Time

June 23, 2017
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

The game is afoot to ferret out the realm of detective and spy literature at the Rosenbach. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore early mystery stories, examine an original cypher belonging to a female Civil War spy, and exercise your sleuthing skills to detect a forgery. This tour is offered in conjuction to our Clever Criminals and Daring Detectives exhibition.

Hands-on Tour: Sleuths and Spies

Date / Time

May 26, 2017
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

The game is afoot to ferret out the realm of detective and spy literature at the Rosenbach. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore items including early mystery stories, a manuscript of Joseph Conrad’s Secret Agent, and an album belonging to a female Civil War spy. Synchronize your watches to 1500 hours and join us!