Join us to celebrate the publication by the Penn Press of the first biography since 1931 of Henry Charles Lea (1825-1909), whose library, including the physical space, and papers reside in the Kislak Center. Lea, a Philadelphia publisher and civic reformer, was America’s most distinguished historian of medieval and early modern Europe, focusing on the Inquisition and ecclesiastical history. His biographer, Richard L. Kagan, Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor Emeritus of History, Johns Hopkins University, will also address Lea’s role as philanthropist, political activist and property owner, who is probably best known to locals today for the elementary school named after him.

Co-sponsored by the Department of History.