Ford Hall Forum

The Ford Hall Forum is the oldest free public lecture series in the United States. Founded in 1908, it continues to host discussions in the Greater Boston area with leading experts and opinion leaders. Some of the more well-known past speakers include Maya Angelou, Issac Asimov, Alan Dershowitz, W.E.B. DuBois, Al Gore, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry Kissinger, Norman Mailer, Ayn Rand, Cokie Roberts, Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert Frost, and Malcolm X.

Founded on the principles of free speech, the Ford Hall Forum works towards

• A common meeting ground for all people in the interest of truth and mutual understanding
• An open public discussion of all vital questions and discussions
• Free participation from audience members

The Ford Hall Forum has assisted in launching more than 500 other public-speaking forums across the country. Priding itself on education for all, "Let there be light" continues to this day as being the Forum's chosen motto.

History

The Forum was founded by George W. Coleman, a Boston businessman and then leader of the Boston Baptist Social Union. The first public lectures were held in the Union's meeting place, the Ford Building on Beacon Hill in Boston, from where the Forum's name originates. The Forum's popularity quickly escalated from its start in February of 1908. Programs were held with equal time for the speaker's presentation and for discussion and questions from the audience.

Ford Hall Forum started a Ford Hall Youth Forum, running concurrently with its adult counterpart to engage Boston's younger generations. Also a Ford Hall drama workshop and Forum orchestra was started. A number of regular attendees to the lectures began a Ford Hall Town Meeting to discuss different issues facing the Boston community, such as liquor laws, public education, and health care. The discussions and conclusions of these Town Meetings were published a regular journal called Ford Hall Folks, out from which came the Open Forum, a part of the Open Forum National Council.

In 1928, the Foum was targeted by many conservatives as being radical. The Massachusetts Public Interest League and the Industrial Defense Association rallied along with Boston's conservative Christian leaders, seeking to close the Ford Hall Forum. In these few years, the Forum was blacklisted by the well known organization, Daughters of the American Revolution for outspoken radicalism. Ousted by the Boston Baptist Social Union in 1929 for fear of being associated with radicals and anti-Christians, the Ford Hall Forum began it's own separate enterprise with support from individuals such as President Calvin Coolidge.

References

1. Northeastern University Library Archives [1]
2. The Second Hundred Years War, 1689-1815. by Arthur H. Buffinton, Assistant Professor of History, Williams College. The Berkshire Studies in European History. (New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1929. Pp. xii, 114. 85c.) [2]
3. Coleman, George W. Democracy in the Making: Ford Hall and the Open Forum Movement : a Symposium. Boston: Little, Brown, 1915.

External Links

• Hall Forum Official Website
• Ford Hall Forum Past Event Webcasts