Join us for a free talk with historian George Oberle on his new book, “Creating an Informed Citizenry: Knowledge and Democracy in the Early American Republic,” which examines early debates in the United States over how to educate constituents of the new nation. Oberle will be joined in discussion by Cynthia Kierner, author and professor of history at George Mason University.

When the United States’ founding fathers inaugurated a system of government unprecedented in the modern world, they felt a functioning democracy required an educated electorate to make rational decisions. But who would validate the information that influenced citizens’ opinions? By spotlighting various institutions of learning, Oberle provides a comprehensive look at how knowledge was created, circulated and consumed in the early American republic.

Many founders, including George Washington, initially favored a centralized national university to educate Americans from all backgrounds. Over the first half of the 19th century, however, politicians moved away from the notion of publicly educated laypeople, and the federal government ultimately founded the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to be run by experts only. Today, we continue to grapple with an evolving media landscape with contested meanings of knowledge, expertise and the obligations of citizenship.

Oberle is the history librarian, an associate (term) professor and the director of the Center for Mason Legacies at George Mason University.

A book signing will follow the program. This event is part of the Library’s programming commemorating Virginia's role in the 250th anniversary of American independence.

This is a free event, but registration is required. Limited free parking is available underneath the Library at 800 East Broad Street. 

For more information, contact education@lva.virginia.gov