Events for March 1, 2025 - March 1, 2025

Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society There are few historical figures that better epitomize resiliency, integrity, and strength of personality than Frederick Douglass. Few can match how he maintained his sense of self-worth against all odds and rose to the pinnacle of prestige. If it is true that, as Douglass said, “We have to do [...]

Rachel Devlin History Professor, Rutgers University Rachel Devlin offers the first new history of the struggle for school desegregation in more than four decades, revealing it as a grassroots movement led by girls and young women. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, young African American women and girls, almost exclusively, attempted to register [...]

Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society What is it to “own” something? Is it just to have exclusive access to, or control over, a resource? How did the concept of “ownership” arise? Is it true that “property is theft”? How have the concepts of property and money evolved so as to de-emphasize the shared resources [...]

Ryan Coffman Philly Works, Philadelphia Department of Public Health This talk focuses on the tobacco industry's extensive prior and current history of deception and manipulation to promulgate the tobacco epidemic domestically and globally and will reference real internal industry quotes secured by litigation and actual campaigns the industry has launched to targeting vulnerable populations. This presentation will expose the source of the tobacco epidemic and pandemic. [...]

Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society Human beings are social creatures. Social media seduces us into more and more communication with others, some in person and a lot virtually. But most people need to be alone sometimes, without electronic distractions and conversation. Many find solitude a source of inspiration, creativity, and renewal.  How can we better [...]