The Hon. Albert Rosenblatt, The Eight: The Lemmon Slave Case and the Fight for Freedom

In 1852 a Virginia couple traveling to Texas bring their family, including eight enslaved, through New York. Slavery is legal in Virginia and Texas but has been abolished in New York. Abolitionists, including Louis Napoleon, John Jay II and Erastus Culver, were instrumental in the legal battle to win freedom for the eight enslaved. The case follows a slow path through New York courts, in the era of the Dred Scott case of 1857 and against the background of the Fugitive Slave clause of the Constitution. But the Eight are freed in 1860. Currently a Judicial Fellow at NYU Law School, Judge Rosenblatt was a long-serving New York state judge, ending his career on the highest court, the Court of Appeals.

This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.

6:30 – Reception with light refreshments
7:00 – Lecture begins
8:00 – Book signing

Please check back soon for tickets.

Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.

Eliga Gould, Crucible of Peace: The Turbulent History of America’s Founding Treaty

John Jay was the third member (along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams) of the Peace Commission which produced the treaty ending the Revolution and definitively established the independence of the “United States.” Eliga Gould, Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, calls this Treaty of Paris “the third founding document, equal in importance to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” He has won multiple prizes for his other books, and multiple fellowships for his work. Note: this book is still a work in progress!

This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.

6:30 – Reception with light refreshments
7:00 – Lecture begins
8:00 – Book signing

Please check back soon for tickets.

Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.

The Hon. Stephen G. Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism

Nominated by President Clinton, Justice Breyer served on the Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was preceded by Justice Harry Blackmun and succeeded by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; he wrote 551 opinions during that 28-year career. Before the Supreme Court, he served on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1980-1994) including four years as Chief Judge; before that he held many government positions, including assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. He is currently the Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process at Harvard Law School. Virtually all discussions of his career mention that he was an Eagle Scout.

This lecture will be held at Bedford Playhouse (633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY) due to ongoing construction at John Jay Homestead.

6:00 – Reception with light refreshments
6:30 – Lecture begins
7:30 – Book signing

Please check back soon for tickets.

Interested in becoming a member of the Scholars Committee? Click here.