Yesterday evening the New England Society in the City of Brooklyn held its annual poetry event at Plymouth Church. This year’s featured poet was Wesley McNair, professor emeritus and poet in residence at the University of Maine, Farmington, and Poet Laureate of Maine. He began by expressing his delight at being, for the first time, […]
Tag Archives | henry ward beecher
Red-Legged Devils at Plymouth Church Saturday
This Saturday, October 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., if you go to the courtyard of Plymouth Church, on Orange Street between Henry and Hicks, you will be transported back to the era of the Civil War, which Plymouth’s fiery abolitionist preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, may have helped to bring about, and where Abraham […]
Brooklyn Heights History: The Women’s Suffrage Movement, Henry Ward Beecher and the Tilton Trial
Perhaps not surprisingly, Henry Ward Beecher and his associate Theodore Tilton were early and prominent feminists. Their principal goal after the Civil War was obtaining the vote for women, but some also advocated full legal equality and what would become the feminist agenda of the 1970s. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the […]
George and Abe Both Knew the Nabe
As we’ve noted before, in late August of 1776 General George Washington spent several days and nights here in Brooklyn Heights. It can’t have been a pleasant time for him: his Continental Army fought the British for the first time, and suffered defeat. Afterward, the weather was bad, though that would prove to be a […]
Happy 197, Henry Ward Beecher
Happy 197th birthday, Henry Ward Beecher! Once The Most Famous Man in America, Plymouth Church’s Beecher was Brooklyn Heights first rock star preacher. Known as an abolitionist and strong advocate of women’s rights, Beecher’s legacy was almost derailed by scandal: Brooklyn Eagle: On August 21, 1874 Rev. Beecher was sued by newspaper editor Theodore Tilton for $100,000 for alienation of […]
BHA Presents Historic Church Tour Saturday; Promenade Picnic on 19th
This coming Saturday, June 12, the Brooklyn Heights Association will present a walking tour of historic churches in Brooklyn Heights, guided by Alex Herrera of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. From the BHA: Brooklyn Heights boasts an astonishing collection of architecturally stunning churches — in fact, it is a veritable outdoor gallery of 19th-century ecclesiastical […]
Heights History: Applegate on Beecher
C-Span 2 recently aired an encore of author Debby Applegate’s discussion of her book about the biggest scandal in Brooklyn Heights history, The Most Famous Man in America.
Beecher Book Author Talks Pulitzer
New Haven resident Debby Applegate’s The Most Famous Man in America won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. She talks to LoHud.com about her journey from idea to book to prize. Today, the 2008 winners will be announced. The story of Plymouth Church of the Pilgrim’s Henry Ward Beecher is a must read for any […]
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