This is the initial Franklin category; we expect to branch off from this many times.
I recently read Epidemics in Colonial America by John Duffy. Among my disappointments with this old book are that he missed the best story of Benjamin Franklin around the issue of the circulation of air. This story at Medium.com captures it quite well.
To the co-namesake of my son, Benjamin Thomas…. Dear Tom, You asked me online quite a while ago about Franklin and slavery. It’s true, he owned slaves for a while, even though later he joined (and was president of) our first society to abolish African slavery in America. It’s a tough issue for Franklinians, like …
There is a spectacular display on Franklin as a swimmer pictured in this report from the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. There is an informative video of a public presentation to a group of young students. Congratulations to all involved!
The Closure Committee of the Friends of Franklin gathered in New Haven in November 2018 to donate the remaining funds of the Friends to the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in honor of Claude-Anne Lopez. Claude-Anne worked at the Papers for many years and started the Friends of Franklin as her “gift to the Papers.” We …
Purdue University and the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs have a program that looks wonderful. The Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute (BFTF) is designed “to introduce Fellows to Benjamin Franklin’s ideas and legacy” and further the contributions of Dr. Franklin to foster relations between Americans and Europeans. What’s not …
This month’s Franklin Celebration in Philadelphia will be held Friday, January 18, 2019 (apologies for this late posting), and is entitled Liberty and Justice for All? Reforming America’s Criminal Justice System. The Inquirer published an excellent Opinion piece by Bill Keller, What would Benjamin Franklin think of today’s criminal justice? on January 4, 2019. UPenn’s …
Civil Rights attorney Benjamin Crump delivered a speech called “the evolution of Benjamin Franklin and the hope of America” in Fayetteville, Arkansas at Fayetteville State University. His respectful notes are in this article from the Fayetteville Observer. Excerpts: Crump described Franklin, one of the country’s founders, as a Renaissance man at a time during which …
As perhaps its final action as an incorporated group, the Friends of Franklin will present its remaining funds to the Papers of Benjamin Franklin as a donation in honor of Claude-Anne Lopez on November 8, 2018. Questions and comments are welcome by reaching me directly. My contact information is at the bottom of the About …
The National Constitution Center has an excellent overview to coverage of the kite experiment: “The Great Debate About Benjamin Franklin’s Kite.” Thanks to Thomas Kidd for this image, citation and an accompanying article.
An auction notice caught my eye, about a clock designed by Dr Franklin. Papers online has this: James Ferguson: Account of Franklin’s Three-Wheel Clock Printed in James Ferguson, Select Mechanical Exercises: Shewing how to construct different Clocks, Orreries, and Sun-Dials, on Plain and Easy Principles,…(Second edition, London, 1778), pp. 1-4. A Clock shewing the Hours, …
