Forum to discuss letters exchanged between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

Ashland.news staff report

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were friends, then enemies, then friends again. Their thoughts about political partisanship and its pitfalls are illuminated in the letters they exchanged from the time of their reconciliation in 1812 until they both died in extreme old age, on the same day, July 4, 1826.   

What might those of us living through our current political situation learn from them? Barry Kraft, former Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor and lecturer, current Rogue Theater Company gadfly and Shakespeare scholar, as well as Jefferson Center member, will explore with us his thoughts on human divisiveness — especially that abrasiveness seemingly interwoven into the very fabric of party politics.

Please join us as we mutually consider these and allied issues, especially when we recall the creation of the Declaration of Independence almost 250 years ago.

The program will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 18, in the Jefferson Center, suite 101, in the Old Armory Building, 208 Oak St., in Ashland. 

Light refreshments will be served. It is part of the Salon series of The Jefferson Center, a Rogue Valley non-profit focused on critical thinking using secular humanist values to understand and engage with issues important to our community. See http://www.thejeffcenter.org  for more details on this and other events.

Source: Jefferson Center news release. Email Ashland.news at [email protected].