On the eve of the 2026 midterm elections, join the Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society for the 2026 Amy Goldman Fowler Lecture, presented in support of the exhibition All We Have Standing Between Us: 250 Years of Jews and American Democracy.

A distinguished panel of speakers will explore the evolving role of Jewish voters in American political life, looking back at pivotal elections and the issues that shaped Jewish political engagement across the ideological spectrum.

What can the history of Jewish voting patterns tell us about the forces shaping American democracy today? Join us for an engaging conversation about how historical precedents may shape America’s political future.

A dessert reception and book sales will follow the program.

This program is made possible by the Amy Goldman Fowler Foundation.

About the Speakers
Matthew Dallek is a historian and professor of political management at George Washington University. His research and teaching interests include 20th-century U.S. politics, extremism, and the conservative movement. He is author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right, and he is working on a book about presidential assassination attempts and political violence in modern America. His essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic.

Samuel G. Freedman is an award-winning author, columnist, and professor. A former columnist for The New York Times and a professor emeritus at Columbia University, he is the author of ten acclaimed books. His most recent book, Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights, won the 2024 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism. His book, Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students and Their High School (1990), was a finalist for the 1990 National Book Award. His book, The Inheritance: How Three Families and America Moved from Roosevelt to Reagan and Beyond (1996), was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize. His book, Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry (2000), won the National Jewish Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2001.

Ronnie Grinberg is Associate Professor of History and core faculty member of the Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israel Studies at the University of Oklahoma. She is the author of Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton University Press 2024), which was longlisted for a National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award in criticism and was a finalist in two categories for the National Jewish Book Award. The book also received wide critical acclaim in venues including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Times Literary Supplement. Grinberg has published academic articles in the Journal of American History and American Jewish History. She is currently co-editing a volume on an American Jewish intellectual tradition to be published by Rutgers University Press and is also co-editor of the Journal of Women’s History.

Julie Salamon is a New York Times best-selling author of 13 books, including her 2011 biography of playwright Wendy Wasserstein, Wendy and the Lost Boys. Her books include The Devil’s Candy, ranked among the top 25 Hollywood books of all time by The Hollywood Reporter, and Facing the Wind, an NPR Fresh Air “Best Book of 2001.” Writing about her 2019 book An Innocent Bystander, Publishers Weekly called Salamon “one of today’s foremost chroniclers of American politics and culture.” The 2021 podcast series, “The Plot Thickens: Season Two,” based on The Devil’s Candy and written and hosted by Salamon, was named a top ten podcast of 2021 by The New York Times. Her new book, Ghosts of 10th Avenue, will be published in April 2027. Former reporter and film and television critic for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Salamon is host of a monthly podcast interview series called, “At Lunch,” sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). She is also an AJHS Trustee. For 25 years, she has been board chair of BRC, a New York City non-profit that provides housing, health care, and social services for people who are unsheltered.