Wednesday. Nov 18, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EST
Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (2nd Fl)
The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
42nd Street & 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018
THIS IS A TWO-PART PROGRAM. YOU MUST REGISTER SEPARATELY FOR PART I, ON NOVEMBER 17, AND PART II, ON NOVEMBER 18
REGISTER HERE FOR PART ONE (Nov 17): https://events.leapevents.com/event/blackhawk-goldman-1
REGISTER HERE FOR PART TWO (Nov 18): https://events.leapevents.com/event/blackhawk-goldman-2
“The Ruptures of War and the Afterlife of Dispossession: Finding Franklin’s Origins”—Part I of the Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures
Ned Blackhawk will deliver the Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures on American Civilization and Government in two parts: Part I on November 17, Part II on November 18. This biennial lecture series at The New York Public Library, established by the estate of the historian Eric F. Goldman in honor of his wife, aims to encourage provocative comment and analysis concerning contemporary issues of deep, long-term significance for American democracy.
In this lecture, Ned Blackhawk revisits Benjamin Franklin’s early life through the overlooked history of his mother, Abiah Folger. The youngest of nine children and the only member of her family born on Nantucket Island, Abiah grew up in a world structured by Wampanoag-English relations. That world was sustained in part by her father Peter’s ties to Wampanoag leaders, which he built as an interpreter, surveyor, and schoolteacher. Franklin returned to his mother’s experiences and his grandfather’s commitments throughout his life and writings, yet the influence of these Native relations on him has gone largely unexamined. The lecture then turns to the seismic ruptures of Metacom's War (1675–76) and to Peter Folger’s rebuke of the colonial authorities, which his grandson later praised for its “manly freedom.” It identifies the war’s legacies as a central chapter in the Folger family’s seventeenth-century world and as a formative inheritance for the political philosophies and governing strategies Franklin carried into the eighteenth century, as he shaped the founding of our nation.
The second lecture will expand on Franklin’s role in the conflicts over Indian affairs and in the Revolution to explore imperial warfare, settler uprisings, and the crisis of Native American diplomacy. To register for Part II on November 18, click here.
To attend | Please register for an In-Person Ticket. Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form shortly before the program.
The video recording of both lectures will be made available on NYPL's YouTube channel later in November. The lectures will not be livestreamed.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
An enrolled member of Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, Ned Blackhawk is the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History at Yale University, where he serves as faculty coordinator for the Yale Group for the Study of Native America (YGSNA). He is an acclaimed author and editor of works in Indigenous history, and his 2023 book, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, won several national awards, including the National Book Award for nonfiction. A national bestseller, it was translated into eight foreign languages. A young adult edition of The Rediscovery of America will be published in Fall 2026, through a partnership between Seven Stories Press and Penguin/Random House. Blackhawk’s current work focuses on the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War and the place of Native nations in the unfolding Revolutionary War, portions of which were featured last year in the Boston Globe and the Atlantic.
ACCESSIBILITY
In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.
Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form.
CONNECT
Please submit all press inquiries at least 48 hours before the event: email press@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.
For all other questions and inquiries, please email cullmancenter@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.
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The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, the Mellon Foundation, the Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and the Sidney J. Weinberg, Jr. Foundation, with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., Christopher Hewat, William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.