Voices of a People's History of the United States

Monday, September 17, 2018, 7:30 - 9pm

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Photo (detail) by Lorie Shaull. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo (detail) by Lorie Shaull. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Join us on September 17, Constitution Day, at this special free event in the Great Hall at Cooper Union featuring live readings and music in a celebration of resistance and radical struggle. By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—VOICES seeks to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice.

Registration required, but seating is first-come, first-served.

Voices of a People’s History of the United States brings to life the extraordinary history of ordinary people who built the movements that made the United States what it is today, ending slavery and Jim Crow, protesting war and the genocide of Native Americans, creating unions and the eight hour work day, advancing women’s rights and LGBTQ liberation, and struggling to right wrongs of the day.

Featuring:

Viggo Mortensen
Allison Moorer
Brian Jones
Josh Hamilton
Martha Redbone and Aaron Whitby
Susan Pourfar
Ty Jones
Staceyann Chin

And more special guests to be announced.

This event is co-sponsored by The Cooper Union and Voices of a People’s History of the United States.

Located in The Great Hall, in the Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.