Ford Hall Forum

CONTACT:

716 Columbus Avenue, Suite 565
Boston, MA 02120
617-373-5800
www.fordhallforum.neu.edu

Tom Formicola

DESCRIPTION:

This is the nation's oldest, and certainly most distinguished, public lecture series. Founded in 1908 as a non-partisan platform to "actively engage diverse audiences in discussions and debates" on current issues, it has hosted almost any great speaker one can think of -- Clarence Darrow, W.E.B. DuBois, Winston Churchill, Robert Frost, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Yitzhak Rabin, Margaret Sanger, Rosa Parks, Carl Sandburg, Malcolm X, Henry Kissinger ... the list goes on and on. All lectures are free, open to the public, widely promoted, and broadcast over WGBH. The goal is "an enlightened citizenry," sought through the exercise of critical thinking skills in lifelong learning. Most recently, the Forum has presented programs on topics such as: the Haitian diaspora in Boston; medical errors and patient safety; the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; public prayer; the crisis in the Catholic Church; gay marriage; and the payment of reparations to African-Americans for slavery. One more contribution to quality of life -- and you can become a patron of this national historic forum.

(1999: CULTURE: Education: Informal: General)