American Inspiration Hero
American Inspiration
A best-selling author series by American Ancestors
Stories of American history, heritage, and culture
As part of our mission to educate, inspire and connect people to their family history, the American Inspiration Author Series explores themes of personal identity, families, immigration, and social and cultural history. Discover inspiring and thought-provoking stories of American families and the complex history which has shaped this country.
Brought to you by
The Brue Family Learning Center
Our Partners
American Inspiration Author Series partners with a variety of influential Boston institutions for many of our events, including Boston Public Library, GBH Forum Network, Museum of African American History, Porter Square Books, and the State Library of Massachusetts.
Upcoming Events
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
Join the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center and American Inspiration for a program with professional historians and Holocaust experts Dr. Elizabeth White and Dr. Joanna Sliwa, discussing the astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg—a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat.
Presented by Dr. Elizabeth White and Dr. Joanna Sliwa.
Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Family Center
Stephen Puleo with The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union
The Great Abolitionist is the first major biography of Charles Sumner in over 50 years. Employing his “vast knowledge of 19th-century Boston and its diffident attitude toward slavery and integration,” Stephen Puleo calls his book a “biographical history” that brings to life two decades when the nation’s very fate hung in the balance -- when slavery consumed Congressional debate, America careened toward civil war, and the country dealt with the war, the assassination of a President, and the monumental task of Reconstruction.
American Inspiration
Larry Tye with The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America
From the New York Times bestselling author of Satchel and Bobby Kennedy, a sweeping and spellbinding portrait of the longtime kings of jazz—Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie—who, born within a few years of one another, overcame racist exclusion and violence to become the most popular entertainers on the planet.
This is a hybrid event.
Moderated by David Leonard
American Inspiration
Tyler Anbinder with Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York
This breathtaking new history of the Irish immigrants who arrived in the United States during the Great Potato Famine shows how their strivings in and beyond New York exemplify the astonishing tenacity and improbable triumph of Irish America. Following an extended illustrated presentation, our award-winning guest author will be in dialogue with genealogist-moderator Melanie McComb; then, they’ll answer your questions.
Moderated by Melanie McComb
American Inspiration
Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery, Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier
In this enlightening personal account, a man steeped in our country’s history and myths tells the story of his groundbreaking Slave Dwelling project—his surprising mission to sleep overnight in former slave dwellings that still stand across United Stated. His account reveals the fascinating history behind these sites and sheds light on larger issues of race in America.
American Inspiration