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The July 4th celebration included a reception and dinner, with featured opening remarks by Society President Gerard Drohan, Jr., and a keynote address by Brian G. Andersson, New York City Commissioner of the Department of Records and Information Services. A highlight of the evening was the delightfully distinctive toe-tapping music of the Banjo Rascals.
Thursday, May 22nd the Library Committee was pleased to invite Library and General Society members to an exciting discussion with author Lily Koppel about her book The Red Leather Diary. Ms. Koppel, a young writer from the NY Times, spoke to guests and answered questions regarding the work.
The Red Leather Diary is an evocative and entrancing work that recreates the romance and glitter, sophistication and promise, of 1930’s New York, bringing to life the true story of a precocious young woman who dared to follow her dreams.
Rescued from a dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman.
The evening was a fascinating examination of Ms. Koppel’s journey into the past and her quest to find the diary’s owner, her only clue the inscription on the frontispiece--"This book belongs to . . . Florence Wolfson." With a chance phone call from a private investigator, Koppel was led to Florence, a ninety-year-old woman living with her husband of sixty-seven years.
The CIP’s fourth Annual New York Round Table Writers' Conference was held April 13 and 14, 2008. The conference included presentations by groundbreaking new authors, Joshua Ferris and Charles Bock; two luncheons with keynote speakers, best-selling novelists Alice Hoffman and Lincoln Child; and revered editor Sol Stein; a Friday evening gala keynote interview with acclaimed author, John Berendt; as well as craft workshops and panel discussions. The two day event attracted writers of all levels from beginner to seasoned professional, and provided access to the nation's leading literary figures, including editors, agents, publicists, reviewers, and bestselling authors and publishers, speaking on the business and career of writing.
After the Wednesday, May 7th regular meeting of The General Society, members and guest including friends and family of Mechanics’ Institute graduates, were treated to a hot buffet dinner and a presentation by author Stanley Greenberg.
Mr. Greenberg showed photographs and discussed his book, Invisible New York - The Hidden Infrastructure of the City, a photographic exploration of the hidden and often abandoned infrastructure of New York City. Inaccessible and unknown to most New Yorkers, the structures and machinery captured in Stanley Greenberg's luminous black-and-white prints deliver the essential services that a city's inhabitants usually take for granted.
Jonathan Schell, Nation Correspondent
Known for his empathy, humor and hope, Jonathan Schell is The Nation’s peace and disarmament correspondent. His latest book, The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger, will be published in November. The book examines threats posed to the world by nuclear power and continuing arms development. Mr. Schell will share excerpts from the book and discuss disarmament, the promise of peace and the state of the anti-war movement today.
Charles Lockwood, Architectural Historian and Author
The author of the indispensable Bricks and Brownstone was described by The New Yorker as the "consummate authority" on this iconic building type. His recent research has uncovered many surprising facts and long-forgotten historical photographs. Mr. Lockwood will discuss the evolution of the New York row house from the 1820s onward, describe the daily lives of their occupants, and illustrate how brownstones were designed, built, and sold 100 to 150 years ago.
Paul Shaw, Principal, Paul Shaw/Letter Design
Paul Shaw, calligrapher, typographer and design historian, reveals another dimension to architecture through an illustrated lecture on environmental lettering in New York. Learn more about the skills and artistic considerations necessary to select, design and create letters in stone, neon, paint, and other materials for buildings by looking at examples throughout the city.
Benjamin Treuhaft, Vice-President of the NYC Piano Technicians Guild
Music by The Orfeo Duo: Ishmael Wallace, piano; Vita Wallace, violin
This program is a tribute to the many piano makers and manufacturers in New York’s past. Benjamin Treuhaft will take apart The General Society’s 1883 Weber grand piano and demonstrate how its mechanisms differ from those of Steinway, Weber’s rival piano manufacturer. Following this demonstration, The Orfeo Duo will offer music played by New Yorkers in their homes in the 1880s.
Edward J. Malloy, President, The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York
Join us for the first public screening of Up From Zero, a documentary film produced by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2003 as a record of the cleanup work at Ground Zero. The film includes interviews with workers from the site.
Mosette Broderick, Director, Architecture and Urban Design Program at New York University, College of Arts and Science
The city’s most affluent 19th century barons commissioned its most accomplished architects, designers, and craftspeople to build and embellish their homes. Professor Broderick, author of a new monograph on architect Stanford White, will take us inside these now vanished landmarks, where we will also get to know their creators and marvel at the extravagance of their lives as an art form.
Patricia J. Williams, Nation Columnist
Patricia J. Williams, a professor of law at Columbia University and a MacArthur Fellow, writes The Nation monthly column, "Diary of a Mad Law Professor." Her provocative, lively pieces astutely examine ongoing legal, political, moral and cultural issues. Professor Williams will talk about her column and the new genre of legal writing that she has introduced to America.
Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler, Associate Professor, Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The garden apartment, so familiar and ubiquitous today (except in Manhattan!), was a new building type that transformed the urban landscape and the lifestyle of an emerging middle class. In the early 20th century a number of the city’s most influential activists and intellectuals lived in these complexes. Dr. Kroessler leads the effort to bring appreciation and protection to these important, and still treasured, but threatened homes.
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Nation Editor and Publisher
Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, America's oldest weekly magazine, will reflect on the magazine’s 142-year history and offer her views on the role of The Nation in turbulent political waters. Ms. vanden Heuvel will share some of her plans for the growth of the magazine and discuss the challenges facing print media in the new electronic frontier.
Jean Wiart, President, LMC Corporation
The restoration of the torch on the Statue of Liberty was the first of many restoration projects in New York City by Jean Wiart and his crew of classically-trained metalworkers. This lecture will illustrate how “old trades produce products of great worth,” both in the creation and the restoration of metalwork, in public and private buildings in America.
Shampa Chanda, Assistant Commissioner for Planning New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development
With the city’s real estate booming as never before, the challenge of housing 21st century New Yorkers is daunting. The city estimates that we will need 265,000 more housing units by 2030. Assistant Commissioner Chanda will outline the Bloomberg administration’s housing initiatives as part of its comprehensive plaNYC. Where will this new housing go, what will it look like, and who will be living there?
John Nichols, Nation Washington Correspondent
A pioneering political blogger with The Nation’s “Online Beat” and the magazine’s Washington correspondent, John Nichols is one of America’s most respected political writers and experts on impeachment and the constitution. Mr. Nichols will share stories from the center of the political world, describing life as a Nation correspondent and offering his insights into the 2008 election.
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