October 18, 2012 at 7pm
The Pell Center will host the lecture at Salve Regina University’s Bazarsky Auditorium, in the O’Hare Academic Center
Free; click here to register or call 401-841-8770
As the 350th anniversary of the King Charles II Charter approaches, the Newport Historical Society announces the opening of The Spectacle of Toleration. This state-wide, multi-year project explores the role of religious tolerance in society, examining Newport and Rhode Island as well as other times and places—including today.
“The King Charles II Charter of 1663 for the colony in Rhode Island marked the first time in modern history that a government was created in which toleration of individual differences on religious matters was permitted and encouraged,” explains Newport Historical Society Executive Director Ruth Taylor. “Through The Spectacle of Toleration, we will explore questions such as: what did this ‘lively experiment’ look and feel like to those who lived it? And what was its legacy?”
The Spectacle of Toleration will include tours, lectures and a significant web presence, and will culminate in 2014 with an exhibition. The Society has partnered with The John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University; The Spectacle of Toleration will include an academic symposium held in collaboration with these organizations to provide content and inspiration for the two years of programming.
On October 18, 2012 The Spectacle of Toleration will host its first public program: Rhode Island and America’s Moral Charter – a lecture by award-winning author and Boston Globe columnist James Carroll. Mr. Carroll, who writes on the topics of religion and history has been described as, “one of the most adept and versatile writers on the American scene today” by Denver Post.
James Carroll is the author of ten novels and seven works of non-fiction, including the National Book Award winning An American Requiem; The New York Times bestselling Constantine’s Sword, which is an acclaimed documentary; House of War, which won the first PEN-Galbraith Award; and Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World, which was named a 2011 Best Book by Publishers Weekly. In 2012, he contributed one of two introductions to Vatican II: The Essential Texts (The other is by Benedict XVI). Mr. Carroll is Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Suffolk University in Boston, where he lives with his wife, the novelist Alexandra Marshall.
The Spectacle of Toleration is supported by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.