Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 4:00 PM (ET)
History of Christmas Carols
During this Christmas season, Christmas carolers bring the holiday season to life. Join this special Happy Hour and learn how this Christmas tradition began and changed over time. Beginning with Roman times, carols emerged from songs sung during the four seasons. During the Middle Ages, minstrels played carols. The Tudor period, brings a rich Tudor feast described in one carol. Carols were suppressed during the Cromwellian period. The eighteenth century saw many more carols written and composed. In the nineteenth century, many carols came to England from the continent. Our guest speaker, Adrienne Hesketh, will perform her own carol with the Baptist Church band. This Happy Hour brings everyone into the holiday season, and we welcome you to share with family and friends of all ages. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Central PA Branch.
Wednesday, November 7, 2024 at 6:00 PM (ET)
Four Award-Winning Poets Share Their Love of Poetry
Poetry tugs at our emotions and affects each of us differently. Listening to versus reading poetry can create different images and thoughts even for the same poem. Join this special ESU Happy Hour when we bring four award-winning poets together to share their love of poetry—Karen Karpowich, Susana Case, Meredith Trede, and Peter Nickowitz. Our poets will be reading their own poems in a round-robin program covering topics such as love, aging, film, travel, art, family, food, and elegy. These poems will inspire us, give us emotional strength and perspectives on our lives. This is a Happy Hour you will want to share with the whole family. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU New York City Branch.
Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 4:00 PM (ET)
Courting the Virgin Queen: Queen Elizabeth I and Her Suitors
Her birth in 1533 came as a result of one of the most controversial marriages in royal history, that of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Little Princess Elizabeth lost her status as legitimate heir to the throne before she was three years old when her father moved on to another wife. When Elizabeth became Queen of England at age 25, public debate immediately turned to the prospect of her own marriage. From Parliament to the Privy Council in England, and from monarchs and ministers throughout Europe, many lobbied for their choice as the world waited for the queen to make a decision. Enter the world of royal romance, where the personal is political and marriage is a matter of public debate. While Elizabeth I had many eager prospects, in the end she was the only English monarch to rule as an adult and never marry.
Our guest speaker, Carol Ann Lloyd, is a historian, Shakspearian, and acclaimed author. In her latest book, Courting the Virgin Queen, Lloyd tells us how Queen Elizabeth I’s decisions defied expectations throughout her reign, frustrating her supporters, and encouraging her enemies. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Sandhills Pinehurst Branch in North Carolina.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 6:00 PM (ET)
The Life and Times of Margaret (Molly) Brown
An overview of the life and legacy of Margaret Tobin Brown, activist, WWI volunteer in France, philanthropist, and suffragist whose 1889 home, shown above, is an historic museum in downtown Denver, CO. Though known to many as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” due to surviving the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic in 1912, Margaret’s legacy is presented at her home with emphasis on her enduring legacy of social justice and public service. Guest speaker, Pamela Mahonchak, will trace Margaret’s life from her early childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, to Leadville, Colorado, where she met and married mining engineer James Joseph Brown, to her days of glory in Denver and New York. The presentation will cover her accomplishments and her status as an icon in the fight for universal suffrage. There is a lot more to Molly Brown than the Titanic! This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Denver Branch.
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 5:00 PM (EDT)
Exploring Churchill’s Public Service Through Period Memorabilia
2024 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill with events planned throughout the year which celebrate and explore his remarkable public service and enduring legacy. Brian E. Krapf, is recognized internationally as an authority on the memorabilia made during Sir Winston’s public service, which spanned over 65 years. Mr. Krapf has recently published A Churchill Treasury, which is the first book to utilize period memorabilia to document Sir Winston’s public service in a biographical format. Mr. Krapf will discuss his book, A Churchill Treasury, and give us a rare tour of some of the Churchill pieces in his collection, many of which have not been shown in public. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Savannah Branch.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 4:00 PM (EDT)
C.S. Lewis and the Powerful Predicament of Language
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. Lewis wrote more than thirty books, reaching a vast audience and attracting thousands of new readers every year.
In his last, best novel, C. S. Lewis gives voice to a potent and glorious challenge facing writers, readers, and lovers of language when a wise character suggests that, “to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that’s the whole art and joy of words”. As a deeply-committed and famously-accomplished scholar, critic writer, and reader, C. S. Lewis has much incisive wisdom to offer in such matters.
In his talk, Lewis scholar and Episcopal priest the Rev’d Andrew Lazo explores a number of Lewis’s most insightful and helpful observations arising from a lifetime devotion to the powerful predicament of language. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Central Florida Branch.