Free Noontime Programs this Summer
Press Release · Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Washington, DC

The National Archives presents a series of noontime programs in July and August. Featured topics include the Faulkner murals, the friendship between Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and the CIA in a post 9/11 world.  All book talks will feature a book signing immediately following the program. 

The programs are free, open to the public, and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW.  Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station. Reservations are recommended and can be made online. For those without reservations, seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The Theater doors will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program. Late seating will not be permitted 20 minutes after the program begins. 

TALK: The Faulkner Murals: Revealing their Stories 
Tuesday, July 2, at noon, William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
The Faulkner murals have decorated the walls of the National Archives Rotunda since the opening of the building in 1936.  However, very little information on their composition has been available to the general public since then. Dr. Lester Gorelic shares compelling stories woven into the murals and explains the magnificent composition used to tell them.

DRAMATIC DISCUSSION: The Years Bring Enlightenment: The Friendship and Politics of Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson*
Wednesday, July 3, noon-1 p.m., William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
Thomas Jefferson (Steven Edenbo) and Abigail Adams (Kim Hanley) will engage in a spirited discussion of their often conflicting views on the events that surrounded the struggle for American Independence and the establishment of the United States under the Constitution. Topics of debate will include women’s rights, Shays' Rebellion, sedition, immigration, Presidential powers, Supreme Court appointments, and other issues introduced raised by audience members.  Presented in collaboration with the American Historical Theatre. Reserve a seat here. July 4th at the National Archives is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation with the generous support of John Hancock, Dykema, and the Hearst Foundations.

BOOK TALK: George Mason: The Founding Father Who Gave Us the Bill of Rights 
Tuesday, July 9, at noon, William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
In his latest book, George Mason, author William G. Hyland, Jr. brings a new biography of a forgotten Founding Father. He was one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence, an author of the Bill of Rights, and one of the strongest proponents of religious liberty in American history. 

FILM SCREENING: From the Earth to the Moon: Mare Tranquilitatis 
Friday, July 19, noon-1 pm, William G. McGowan Theater
In episode six of the critically-acclaimed 1998 HBO series, From the Earth to the Moon, Buzz Aldrin (Bryan Cranston) , Neil Armstrong (Tony Goldwyn), and Michael Collins (Cary Elwes) prepare for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. (60 minutes)  This program is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of The Boeing Company.    

BOOK TALK: The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy
Tuesday, August 6, at noon, William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
Why were Generals Lee and Jackson so successful working together as a fighting machine that consistently won despite often overwhelming odds against them? In The Great Partnership, professor Christian B. Keller discusses the unique relationship between Lee and Jackson, two leaders who chiseled a strategic path forward against the odds and almost triumphed. 

BOOK TALK: Lincoln’s Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation
Thursday, August 8, at noon, William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
Veteran journalist Douglas Waller turns his sights on the shadow war of four secret agents for the North. A major addition to the history of the Civil War, Lincoln’s Spies is a riveting account of the secret battles waged by Union agents to save a nation.  

BOOK TALK: Black Site: The CIA in the post-9/11 World
Tuesday, August 13, at noon, William G. McGowan Theater and YouTube
When the towers fell on September 11, 2001, nowhere were the reverberations more powerfully felt than at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Almost overnight, the intelligence organization evolved into a warfighting intelligence service, constructing what was known internally as “the Program”: a web of top-secret detention facilities intended to help prevent future attacks on American soil and around the world. With Black Site, former deputy director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center Philip Mudd presents a full, never-before-told story of this now-controversial program, directly addressing how far America went to pursue al-Qa’ida and prevent another catastrophe. 

*Programs presented in conjunction with our exhibition: Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).