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Video library

American Inspiration Author Series
1:02:50
Rachel L. Swarns with The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the Catholic Church

In this groundbreaking account, journalist, author, and professor Rachel L. Swarns follows one family through nearly two centuries of indentured servitude and enslavement to uncover the harrowing origin story of the Catholic Church in the United States. Through the saga of the Mahoney family, she demonstrates how slavery fueled the growth of the American Catholic Church and shines a light on the enslaved people whose forced labor helped to build the largest denomination in the nation.

Moderated by Stephanie McCurry
American Inspiration Author Series
1:02:29
Charlotte Gray with Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt

In this captivating dual biography of two famous women whose sons changed the course of the 20th century, the award-winning historian Charlotte Gray breathes new life into Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt. Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons offers a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.

Moderated by James B. Conroy
American Inspiration Author Series
51:49
Benjamin Taylor with Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather

Celebrating one of America’s greatest female novelists, this tender biography brings to life Willa Cather -- her artistry and endurance, her immigrant family and the prairies on they lived, and her trailblazing success as a journalist and writer.

Moderated by Mary Beth Norton