Events & Programs

Brendan Gill Lecture

The Brendan Gill Lecture, an annual public event presented at no charge to the larger Bronxville community, is one of many programs the Conservancy offers to increase the awareness of  the village’s history and appreciation of its culture.  The event honors former Bronxville resident, Brendan Gill, a beloved author and renowned architecture critic.

Harold Holzer, Noted Lincoln and Civil War Scholar 

On March 12, 2010 at 8 p.m., in Reisinger Auditorium at Sarah Lawrence College, the Bronxville Historical Conservancy presented a lecture by acclaimed author Harold Holzer: "Why Lincoln Matters--to history, to our presidents, and us.”

Mr. Holzer’s lecture marked the twelfth anniversary of the Bronxville Historical Conservancy and the prestigious Brendan Gill Lecture series. 

The main thrust of Holzer's presentation was demonstrating the many ways in which nearly every U.S. leader since Lincoln has tried to "adopt (his) mantle."   Reaction to the lecture was uniformly positive.  "Excellent!" raved Conservancy board member Peter Gisolfi.  "I was fascinated by how absolutely immersed in Lincoln he is."

Past Brendan Gill Lectures

Theodore Sorensen 

Ted Sorensen, advisor and speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, drew an unprecedented large and enthusiastic audience to the 11th annual Brendan Gill Lecture, on Friday evening, February 27th.
After a brief introduction by Carlo Vittorini, Mr. Sorensen gave an authoritative presentation that was both witty and anecdotal. He began by recounting his childhood in Nebraska and the impact his background had on his decisions to go to college and then on to law school.  He then moved on to his days in the Kennedy Administration, often referring to his autobiography, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History. He spoke at length of his relationship with President Kennedy, modestly claiming to have played “a small role in shaping the views and deeds of the President.”

Robert Caro

On February 8, 2008, Robert A. Caro, acclaimed author of  The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, spoke to a standing-room-only Gill Lecture audience about how one very powerful man, Robert Moses,  shaped – and perhaps misshaped -- New York City. 

Russell Shorto

Russell Shorto, author of the best selling book, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America, was the featured speaker at the Bronxville Historical Conservancy’s 2007 Brendan Gill Lecture on Friday, April 1.  He shared insights he learned from researching a vast, newly-translated 12,000-page 17^th century Dutch archive.  One of his compelling findings --  that modern American culture is more firmly rooted in Dutch New Amsterdam than it is in the Plymouth Colony of New England – was a highlight of his presentation.

David Halberstam

David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of a score or more best-selling titles accepted the Bronxville Historical Conservancy’s invitation to be the 2006 Brendan Gill lecturer at Sarah Lawrence College on March 24th.

Presented as “A Conversation with David Halberstam,” the author’s talk covered American post-World War II social and political developments and the challenges faced by the country’s leaders in this era.

James McPherson

On February 25, 2005, 8:00 p.m., noted Civil War expert and professor of history at Princeton University, James McPherson, was the featured speaker at the 7th annual Brendan Gill Lecture.  A noted Civil War expert and Pulitzer-prize winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, McPherson shared insights into the lesser-known might of our country’s 14th president, Abraham Lincoln, in his presentation, "Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief." 

Walter Isaacson

The essence of Franklin is that he was a civic-minded man,” wrote Walter Isaacson in his best-selling biography, Benjamin Franklin, An American Life.  In his remarks at the 6th annual Brendan Gill Lecture on Friday, March 5th, 2004, the famous author and former resident of our community drew a parallel between Franklin’s belief in the importance of organizations for the common good and the people of Bronxville throughout its history. 

Robert Macdonald

In March of 2003, Robert Macdonald, former director and CEO of the Museum of the City of New York, spoke about Bronxville’s sense of place, and what it is about our diminutive, largely homogeneous village located less than four miles north of a global city of 8 million, that has made our community the object of analysis, envy, praise and criticism.

Richard Jenrette

The author of Adventures with Old Houses, Dick Jenrette, honored the organization by speaking at its fourth annual event in 2002.  He shared his affinity for endangered sites and offered an instructive and entertaining personal account of the acquisition, restoration and furnishing of his many historic homes.  

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,whose grandparents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy were residents of Bronxville, reviewed his important work in preserving the environment in May 2001.  Kennedy also shared family memories of his family’s ties to the village in the late 1920s and 1930s.

George Plimpton

George Plimpton, author and raconteur, presented the second lecture in the year 2000.

Paul Goldberger

Paul Goldberger, Gill’s successor at The New Yorker, launched the lecture series in 1999, and spoke of The Power of Place, and Bronxville as a community that is "endlessly copied, but never matched."  His remarks are re-printed in Volume I of The Bronxville Journal.

Brendan Gi ll

Ted Sorensen, 2009

Robert Caro, 2008

Russell Shorto, 2007

David Halberstam, 2006

James McPherson, 2005

Walter Isaacson, 2004

Bob McDonald, 2003

Richard Jenrette, 2002

Robert Kennedy, Jr., 2001

George Plimpton, 2000

Paul Goldberger, 1999