Video library
Embroidered, painted, stamped, carved, and engraved coats of arms enjoyed continuous popularity in colonial and Revolutionary America. As expressions of family identity—remembered or aspirational—heraldic arts are among the most compelling and enduring symbols of our interest in family roots. We will survey the major genres of heraldic decoration from the seventeenth to early nineteenth centuries, considering how, why, when, and for whom they were made, and focusing on some examples from the collections of American Ancestors.
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.
The women of Castle Howard were not merely decorative figures, languishing from boredom or ill-health; nor were they simply wives whose sole duty was to provide an heir. They were dynamic, combative individuals, who wrote, painted, travelled, pursued political careers, as well as superintending several family homes. This talk challenges how we look at great houses and estates: they were not the exclusive preserve, or responsibility, of the male members of the family.