Emigration from Eastern Europe reached a peak at the same time the American motion picture industry was in its infancy. Newly-arrived Jews, with their Old World clothes and appearance were appealing subjects for movie-makers like Thomas Edison and D.W. Griffith. Their early movies helped establish and reinforce negative stereotypes. The movie image changed slowly as […]

Explore the early years of one of America's musical contributions to world culture.  Using lecture and recording music we will explore where the Blues began, how different styles developed, and what they sounded like.  It's a musical journey to the depths of the nation's soul.

“Music can diminish evil” Viktor Ullmann 1898 –1941 Among the many cultural victims of the Holocaust was an adventurous composer named Viktor Ullmann, who had an affinity for music that the Nazis labeled “ degenerate.” Born in a Habsburg Empire province on the eve of the new century, he lived and worked in Austria, Switzerland, […]

With Mort Segal. More information TBA.    

When the War Came: Three Households on the Palisades Face the Civil War with Eric Nelson While no battles were fought in Hudson Valley, the effects of the Civil War were felt throughout the region. In the tiny riverfront settlement of Closter Landing on the New Jersey Palisades, around a dozen men from several families […]