Author Talk with Michael Auslin: The Hidden Jewish History of the Declaration of Independence

No Jews signed the Declaration of Independence, nor were any Jews delegates to the Continental Congress. Yet as the Declaration became America’s most revered symbol of freedom and equality, Jews played a unique, if often hidden, role in bringing the founding document closer to Americans. Michael Auslin, author of the recently-published book National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America, will explore the inspiring Jewish philanthropic, scholarly, cultural, and commercial efforts to preserve and popularize the Declaration as the supreme statement of the American ideal. Auslin will be in conversation with Professor Lauren Strauss, Director of Undergraduate Studies for American University’s Jewish Studies Program.

In partnership with the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies.

This event is offered both in person and virtually. For the virtual event, click here.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Michael Auslin is the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Previously, he was an associate professor of history at Yale. He wrote National Treasure as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center and an American Heritage Partners Fellow at the Society of the Cincinnati’s American Revolution Institute. Auslin lives in Virginia and publishes a Substack, “The Patowmack Packet, on Washington, DC, past and present.”

Lauren Strauss teaches Jewish history and literature at American University in Washington, DC, and is Director of Undergraduate Studies for AU’s Jewish Studies Program.  A scholar of American Jewish political and cultural history, Strauss is completing her book Painting the Town Red: Jewish Visual Artists, Yiddish Culture, and Radical Politics in Interwar New York.  Her next book will explore the political activism of DC Jews and the relationship between American Jews and democracy.  She lectures widely, is a commentator at Jewish cultural events and in the press, and has served as historian for several museum exhibits.  She is also active in “shared society” groups that focus on Arab-Jewish relations in Israel, and in Black-Jewish dialogue groups in the DC area.

Image credit: Promotional photos provided courtesy of the speaker.