Smithtown Building Closed

Due to the storm that occurred during the early morning hours of August 19, which caused torrential flooding, our Smithtown Building suffered catastrophic damage to its lower level. Therefore, until further notice, our Smithtown Building will be closed while we continue to rebuild.  Our other three buildings remain open to assist our patrons. For updates, click here. 

Want to Help? Donate Here

The End of the Innocence - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair

Program Type:

Lectures

Age Group:

Adults
Please note you are looking at an event that has already happened.
Registration for this event is no longer open.

Event Details

From April to October in 1964 and again in 1965, some 52 million people from around the world flocked to the New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.  While some critics derided the Fair as the “ugly duckling” of global expositions and others pointed to the controversial role of World’s Fair president Robert Moses, the Fair itself was for the great majority of visitors an overwhelmingly positive, often inspirational, and sometimes transcendent experience that truly delivered on its theme of “peace through understanding.”  Join Lawrence R. Samuel, author, cultural historian, and former Smithsonian Institution Fellow as he examines the legacy of the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair as a seminal event that offered its visitors sanctuary from the cultural storms that were rapidly approaching mid-1960s America.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.