Cultivating Conversations

Mondays at Beinecke: Frederick Douglass and Early Pan-Africanism with Jesse Olsavsky

A conversation with historian Jesse Olsavsky, Walter O. Evans Fellow for the Study of Slavery or Race at Beinecke Library. Though Frederick Douglass is often viewed as an American nationalist with little interest in Africa, this talk will contrarily show the ways that intellectuals in West Africa, the West Indies and the United States circulated and reinterpreted Douglass’s thought in order to understand the horrendous changes in the world resulting from the overthrow of Reconstruction and the colonization of Africa.

Mondays at Beinecke: America 250, Roger Sherman, and Connecticut with Jason Mancini and Frank Mitchell

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/41tIZmF

We welcome CT Humanities Executive Director Jason Mancini and Board Chair Frank Mitchell to discuss plans and aspirations for America 250 in Connecticut and the work of the America 250 | CT Commission, which is administered by CT Humanities.

Meeting the Moments: Connecticut’s Roger Sherman and America 250

Beinecke Library welcomes all to a special display of materials from Yale Library collections related to Roger Sherman, America 250, Connecticut, New Haven, and Yale History on Sherman’s birthday. The display will be on Saturday, April 19, from 12 noon to 4pm in the Beinecke Library reading room, 121 Wall Street.

Mondays at Beinecke: Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & in New Haven with David Jon Walker, Michael Morand, and Carlynne Robinson CANCELLED to be rescheduled

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/4ifQIMd

A new exhibition on view from March 24 at the Yale Schwarzman Center, “Shining Light on Truth: Black Lives at Yale & in New Haven,” illuminates ongoing research that recovers the essential role of Black people throughout Yale and New Haven history. It celebrates Black community building, resistance, and resilience on campus and in New Haven.

Mondays at Beinecke: Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts with Agnieszka Rec

A conversation with a co-curator of Beinecke’s current exhibition: Agnieszka Rec, curator at the Beinecke Library.

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/4iwq4yo

Mondays at Beinecke: Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts with 0zgen Felek

A conversation with a co-curator of Beinecke’s current exhibition Özgen Felek, a lector of Ottoman in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/4ivtMs2

Mondays at Beinecke: Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts with Roberta Dougherty

A conversation with a co-curator of Beinecke’s current exhibition: Roberta L. Dougherty, Yale Library’s librarian for Middle East studies.

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/42J0SjC

Mondays at Beinecke: Schooling the Nation - The Success of the Canterbury Academy for Black Women with Jennifer Rycenga

Jennifer Rycenga recovers a pioneering example of antiracism and Black-white cooperation. Founded in 1833 by white teacher Prudence Crandall, Canterbury Academy educated more than two dozen Black women during its eighteen-month existence. Racism in eastern Connecticut forced the teen students to walk a gauntlet of taunts, threats, and legal action to pursue their studies, but the school of higher learning flourished until a vigilante attack destroyed the Academy.

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/42Nm6N5

Mondays at Beinecke: Taught by the Pen: The World of Islamic Manuscripts with Roberta Dougherty, Ozgen Felek, and Agnieszka Rec

A conversation with the co-curators of Beinecke’s latest exhibition: Roberta L. Dougherty, Yale Library’s librarian for Middle East studies, Özgen Felek, a lector of Ottoman in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Agnieszka Rec, curator at the Beinecke Library.

Zoom webinar registration link: https://bit.ly/3Q7CPTS

Community Day: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery Exhibition at New Haven Museum

A special community day at the New haven Museum, 115 Whitney Avenue, will be held Saturday, February 15, 2025, offering tours and conversation around the New Haven Museum’s exhibition, “Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery,” prior to its closing on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Presented by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Library, the exhibition highlights the essential role of enslaved and free Black people in New Haven and at Yale.