Lectures in History

George Washington University lecturer Bell Julian Clement discussed American poverty policy and how the Johnson Administration's Great Society program sought to provide economic security to the poorest Americans. George Washington University is located in Washington, D.C.

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University of Washington lecturer Ross Coen discussed the development of the Oregon Country and how the United States and Britain divided the Northwest Coast. The University of Washington is located in Seattle.

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N.C. State professor Chris Laws taught a class about North Carolina native Worth Bagley, who was the first U.S. soldier to die during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Bagley was celebrated as a national hero and his death was seen as a key moment in reconciliation in the decades after the Civil War. North Carolina State University is located in Raleigh.

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Professor Fawn-Amber Montoya talked about the Ludlow coal miners' strike and massacre that took place in the early 20th century in Colorado. She follows the story of a few mining families, many of whom died when the Colorado National Guard burned the tent city where the strikers and their families were living. She also described the modern memorial and how the event has been remembered.

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Professor Stephen Berry talked about coroners in the 19th century South. He discussed the role of a coroner as an agent of the state and talked about the records created from coroner inquests. He argued that coroners can shed light on the emerging patterns of death within a society and spot potential threats to public health such as diseases or a lack of industrial safety. 

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Professor Maria Cristina Garcia talks about the United States' refugee policy since World War II. She speaks about qualifications to be a refugee and how those have changed as well as legislation governing quotas and procedures.

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In this episode, you'll meet Ilyon Woo, author of a new bestseller-- "Master Slave, Husband Wife." She recounts the harrowing journey of self-emancipation made by two enslaved Georgians--William and Ellen Craft -- in 1848. Disguised as a wealthy disabled white man traveling with his enslaved servant, the Crafts left Georgia via public conveyances, avoiding slave traders, law enforcement, and curious fellow passengers in their successful effort to gain freedom. Becoming popular speakers on the lecture circuit, they found themselves hunted by slavecatchers after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850.  

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Brigham Young University Professor Jay Buckley taught a class about Lewis and Clark’s expedition across the American West after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, he described their goal to map a route to the Pacific coast as well as to gather information on the people, flora and fauna in the new territory. This class was taught online due to the coronavirus pandemic and Brigham Young University provided the video.

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Tulane University professor John “Ray” Proctor taught a class about playwright August Wilson, his contribution to African American theatre and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences.

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In this speech from 1945, Robert Oppenheimer speaks about the development and use of the atomic bomb. He also talks about atomic weapons as “evil things” and the ethical application of science and scientific discovery. He also expressed his hope that the atomic bomb would never be used again, the peaceful use of nuclear technologies, and nuclear deterrence.

The physicist known as “the father of the atomic bomb” served as the first director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory beginning in 1943. The first atomic bomb test in New Mexico was on July 16, 1945, and on August 6, 1945, Little Boy was detonated above Hiroshima. After WWII, he became chief adviser to the newly-created Atomic Energy Commission.

The speech was delivered at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. It is presented courtesy of the American Philosophical Society Library.

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