Evening. Inave taught religion america for more than 35 years. And i believe that the First Amendment has played a vital role in the vitality of this nation. And i shall read it for you. Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people to peacefully assemble and to petition the government for a. D dress of grievances the to come first, which is where religious freedom is often called americas first freedom. Establishment actually comes even before religious freedom. Often people dont understand what establishment is. 1833, massachusetts this established. Established. What that means is people no longer had to pay taxes to support my own religious ancestors, the congregationalists. If you want to know why establishment when a way, imagine how popular it was to pay taxes for somebody elses preacher. That is one of the reasons it went away. In also, tha
Less familiar with the general society and how many of you here this evening with this be your first visit . Okay. A warm welcome and of course, welcome back to previous attendees. The general society was founded in 1785 by 22 artisans. Today our 234yearold organization continues to serve the peopleof the city of new york. We do this through our cultural and education programs. They include our lecture series which tonights lecture is part of, our general Society Library which will will be celebrating 200 years. Our tuition free Mechanics Institute and the john and mossman lot collection which you are welcome to visit after our talk this evening and that is upstairs. You will find more information on the blue and white postcard on your seats. We have such a wonderful start to this years lectures season and we have the pleasure of welcoming critically acclaimed biographer susan ronald who will discuss her biography of conde nast, the publishing legend of vogue and vanity fair and other
With the city council. For those of you who may be less familiar with the general society, i will ask how many of you here this evening will this be your first visit . All right. Warm welcome. Of course, welcome back to previous attendees. The general society was founded in 1785 by 22 artisans. Today our 234 yearold organization continues to serve the people of the city of new york. We do this through our cultural and educational pogroms. They include our lecture series of which tonights lecture is part of and our general Society Library which celebrates 200 years and next year and our tuition free Mechanics Institute and the john m which you are welcome to visit after our talk this evening and that is upstairs. You will find more information on the blueandwhite postcard on your seats. We have such a wonderful start to this years lecture season season and you have the pleasure of welcoming critically acclaimed biographer susan ronald who tonight will discuss her biography of conde nast
I am karen taylor, Program Director of the general society. The labor, literature and landmark collections are supported in part by public funds from the new City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council. For those of you who may be less familiar with the general society and how many of you here this evening with this be your first visit . Okay. A warm welcome and of course, welcome back to previous attendees. The general society was founded in 1785 by 22 artisans. Today our 234yearold organization continues to serve the peopleof the city of new york. We do this through our cultural and education programs. They include our lecture series which tonights lecture is part of, our general Society Library which will will be celebrating 200 years. Our tuition free Mechanics Institute and the john and mossman lot collection which you are welcome to visit after our talk this evening and that is upstairs. You will find more information on the blue and white postcard on
Familiar with the general society and if you dont mind im going to ask. How many of you here this evening is this your first event . A warm welcome and of course a welcome back to previous attendees. The general society was founded in 1785 by 22 artisans. Today our 234yearold organization continues to serve the people of the city of new york. We do this through our cultural and educational programs. They include our lecture series which of course is the lecture to the party. The general Society Library which will be celebrating 200 years next year. Our tuition free Mechanics Institute and the john m. Loughlin and collection which you are welcome to visit after our talk this evening and that is upstairs. Youll find more information on the blueandwhite postcard on your seats. Now we have such a wonderful start to this years lecture season. I have the pleasure of welcoming critically acclaimed biographer susan ronald who tonight will discuss her accuracy of conde nast the Public Affairs a