Teaching Thomas Paine

Act 48 Workshop

Tuesday March 10, 2009

Education Center – 2nd Floor Auditorium
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Jack Fruchtman, author and Paine Scholar, will present a workshop on the historical impact of the life and writings of Thomas Paine. The writings of Thomas Paine are included in English 3 and U.S. History core curriculum. This workshop will give knowledge and teaching strategies in both the English and Social Studies content areas. Those who attend will receive a supportive text for teaching Thomas Paine.

Note: There will be a variety of follow up events in schools and at the Hitorical Society of Pennsylvania. Students will have the opportunity to participate in an essay contest with winning essays being published and presented at a filmed event at Drexel University in June.

Moonstone Inc. & The Historical Society of Pennsylvania Present

Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom

A Presentation by Jack Fruchtman

Wednesday February 4, 2009, 6pm

Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street

Join us for the first of four presentations on Thomas Paine in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his death on June 8, 2009. In addition to the four presentations there will be a panel discussion on Paine’s influence and importance in American History and an essay contest in the Philadelphia public high schools. Please check our website www.forgottenfoundingfather.net

Thomas Paine turned a tax revolt into a revolution for independence with Common Sense, saved the revolution from failure with The Crisis, defended the French Revolution, attacked the political bureaucracy, and promoted the concepts of democracy in The Rights of Man, attacked the religious bureaucracy and promoted Deism in The Age of Reason, and confronted the issues of poverty in Agrarian Reform.

Jack Fruchtman, Jr. is professor political science at Maryland’s Towson State University. His is the author of The Apocalyptic Politics of Richard Price and Joseph Priestley, Thomas Paine and the Religion of Nature, Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom, Atlantic Cousins: Benjamin Franklin and His Visionary Friends and the forthcoming The Political Science of Thomas Paine.

This program is made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council with additional support from the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Barra Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

“With new insights into Paine’s life comes new understanding of his writings, those seeds of our revolution. One can’t read this long-overdue, revealing, and moving biography without feeling both the admiration and the same frustrations Fruchtman did, coming away angered that ‘the problems …tragically remain today.’ The role of the true revolutionary is exposed, and Fruchtman’s study succeeds better than most in giving us deeper understanding of that lonesome role and its purpose. We haven’t yet come even half way as a society to meet Paine’s vision. In the whole work, and especially in his last chapter, “Assessment,” Fruchtman comes very near to that indistinct line between biographer and champion. His solid work corrects earlier lies about Paine, and if he slips into exhortation, it is only because no one could know Paine so well and not be so affected. Paine’s spirit lives, restrained only by scholarly discipline, making for a highly readable, highly recommended work.” – John Berry, Library Journal

This program was funded by:

The Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities‘ We the People initiative on American history. The PHC inspires individuals to enjoy and share a life of learning. The PHC represents Pennsylvania in the Federal-State Partnership of the NEH. For more information, visit wwww.pahumanities.org or call 800-462-0442.

Additional support from:

Samuel S. Fels Fund, founded in 1935 by Samuel S. Fels, a Philadelphia philanthropist who made his money in the manufacture of Fels Naptha, a popular household soap. The Fels Fund is a private independent foundation with broad interests in community programs, education and the arts. They seek to support projects “which prevent, lessen or resolve contemporary social problems”, or which seek to provide permanent improvements “in human daily life.”

The Barra Foundation Inc. is a private, not-for-profit philanthropic organization that primarily serves the five-county area of Greater Philadelphia. The Foundation’s principal focus is to make one-time and multi-year grants for innovative projects that aid in advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the fields of arts and culture, education, health, and human services.

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fosters the excellence, diversity and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and broadens the availability and appreciation of those arts throughout the state.

Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society

College of Arts and Sciences, Drexel University By pursuing excellence in research and scholarship, the College of Arts and Sciences educates its students to become ethical professionals and citizens with knowledge of and appreciation for the fundamental interactions among the humanities and the sciences in a fast-changing, challenging, and diverse world. We thank them for hosting the final Thomas Paine panel as well as the reception following on June 8, 2009.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is an independent research library, providing a vital gateway to historical resources and understanding. HSP preserves and explores the history of the origins, development, and diversity of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the nation, discovering the past and inspiring the future. We thank them for hosting two of our Thomas Paine lectures.

Henry George School Philadelphia and birthplace museum, located at 413 South 10th Street, educates students on why political economy is superior to economics as the key to understanding and building a peaceful and sustainable planet. The Henry George School of Social Science, located in New York City, has been educating students on political economy and social philosophy since 1932. They have been vocal champions of Thomas Paine’s work and ideas for many years.

Office of College and Career Awareness of the School District of Philadelphia works to provide programs and services to assist students in preparing for the knowledge-based economy. They recognize every child’s potential for post secondary success and strive to provide resources, without prejudice, to students, school staff, parents and the community to raise expectations and motivate each student to pursue dreams, realize talents, and achieve academic and career success. We thank them for arranging our Thomas Paine presentations at Philadelphia area high schools.

St. Peter’s Church is celebrating it’s 250 anniversary and looks very much as it did when Thomas Paine lived in Philadelphia. Among the events planed for the “Faith in Action for 250 Years” celebration is a reception and dinner on Saturday, May 2nd with special guest Sam Waterston. For more information, visit the new “250th anniversary” page on our site. We thank them for being host to one of our Thomas Paine lectures.