AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY
MONDAY, November 2, 2009, 2:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
$21 members, $35 non-members.
Reservations Required. Please call 215.409.6700 or order online.
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
F.M. Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
Please note: This program includes afternoon tea (2:30 p.m.), the program (3:30 p.m.) and a private viewing of Diana: A Celebration (5:00 - 6:00 p.m.). Please go to the Delegates' Restaurant at 2:30 p.m.
The National Constitution Center and KYW present an afternoon event beginning with high tea, followed by the 3:30 p.m. program “American Aristocracy” and concluding with a private viewing of Diana: A Celebration. The Constitution states that "no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States" and yet Americans celebrate their dynastic families. Bestselling author Sally Bedell Smith and journalist Vincent Bzdek weigh in on American aristocracies – families synonymous with long-lived power and privilege, including the Kennedys and the Clintons, in context of British royalty, such as Princess Diana.
Vincent Bzdek is the news editor and a features writer at The Washington Post. He has also written for The Wall Street Journal, Wired Magazine, and The Denver Post. He is the author of Woman of the House. Bzdek’s most recent book is The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby, Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled.
Sally Bedell Smith is the author of the bestselling biographies of William S. Paley, Pamela Harriman, Princess Diana, John and Jacqueline Kennedy and Bill and Hillary Clinton. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1996, she previously worked at Time and The New York Times, where she was a cultural news reporter. She was awarded a Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982 and was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in 1986.
Dr. Will Swift moderates. Swift is a leading expert on American presidents and British royalty of the nineteenth and twentieth century. His first book The Roosevelts and the Royals tells the story of two ruling dynasties--the Roosevelts and the British royal family--and their interactions over 125 years. His 2008 book The Kennedys Amidst the Gathering Storm recounts how the Kennedy family, during Joseph Kennedy's ambassadorship at the beginning of World War Two, stepped onto the world stage as America's aristocratic family in London. Swift has been in private practice as a clinical psychologist in Manhattan for thirty years.
From October 2 through December 31, 2009, Diana: A Celebration will come to Philadelphia, showcasing the life and work of the Princess of Wales. The 10,000 square foot exhibition explores Diana's childhood, her engagement to HRH Prince Charles, their royal wedding, their children, and Diana's life and works as a global humanitarian.
A book sale and signing will follow the program, courtesy of Joseph Fox Bookshop. Parking for this event is available for $7.00 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change, so please call the Constitution Center on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.
For reservations please call 215.409.6700 or order online. Programs at the National Constitution Center begin promptly and latecomers may not be admitted to the program. Please note that this program is subject to change.
Related Links:
Sally Bedell Smith
Vincent Bzdek
Will Swift
