On Thursday, March 26, Friends of John Jay Homestead will conclude their 2015 John Jay Scholars Lecture Series, America at War: Managing the Message, with Harold Holzer presenting Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion
During Lincoln’s era, newspapers and politicians became “mutually dependent and totally inseparable” without even a pretense of neutrality, and Lincoln worked hard to find advantage in that system. He courted loyal publishers, bought his own newspaper, and later censored and closed opponents and critics. Holzer tells the story of Lincoln’s mastery of this environment — hyper-partisan even by our own standards — and of the three New York publishers who dominated Civil War journalism — James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald, Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune, and Henry J. Raymond of the New York Times. He also discusses how such extreme polarization can affect the quality of public debate, and the growth of reform movements. Author, co-author, or editor of more than 40 books, Holzer is chair of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation, Roger Hertog Fellow at the New-York Historical Society, and a winner of the National Humanities Medal. Lincoln and the Power of the Press is the 2015 winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize.
The 2015 John Jay Lecture Series is organized by the Scholars Committee of Friends of John Jay Homestead, whose members include Sheila and John Bernson, Cynthia and Steven Brill, Joyce and Gary Corrigan, Vanessa Diebold, John M. Greenwood, The Honorable Donald P. Gregg, Susan Allport Howell, Gary S. Jacobson and Bridget C. Thorne, Alexia and Jerry Jurschak, Brian Kelly, Migs and Brian Landry, Heather G. Langham, Bonnie and Piers MacDonald, Holly Ann Maggio, Silvia and Steve Ohler, George Hunter Roberts, Linda A. Mahon and Robert H. Saunders, Timothy P. Schieffelin, Janet K. Schloat, Jennifer and Roger Schwartz, Norman Selby, John J. Stockbridge, Kate and Tom Terry, Marilen G. Tilt, Melissa Vail (Chair), and Caroline and John Walker.
This lecture will be held in the Ballroom at John Jay Homestead State Historic Site at 7:00 P.M., registration beginning at 6:15 P.M. with light refreshments. A book signing will follow the lecture. Tickets are $20 for Members of Friends of John Jay Homestead and $25 for non-members. Reservations recommended.
For more information, or to reserve tickets or books, please contact the Friends of John Jay Homestead office at (914) 232-8119; email friends@johnjayhomestead.org; or visit:Â www.johnjayhomestead.org.
