Hidden in Plain Sight: Family Secrets and American History

The theme of this discussion is the not-quite-secret histories of American families, stories hidden in plain sight that, once revealed, require us to rethink the broader outlines of American history.

The program will tackle important connections between the secret/private and the official/public.

The Schlesinger Library’s specific mission to document the history of American women also means that recording secrets—thinking about privacy and discoverability—is a particular interest of ours.

How do we know what we know? What can’t we know, ever? What should and shouldn’t be preserved?

A panel discussion with:

• Gail Lumet Buckley '59, author of The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016)
• Alice Echols, author of Shortfall: Family Secrets, Financial Collapse, and a Hidden History of American Banking (The New Press, 2017)
• Susan Faludi ’81, RI ’09, author of In the Darkroom (Metropolitan Books, 2016)
• Alex Wagner, author of Futureface (One World, forthcoming)
• Moderator: Annette Gordon-Reed JD ’84, RI ’16, Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard Law School, and Professor of History, Harvard University

Event Video