The 27th Annual Whitehall Lecture Series will bring experts and best-selling authors to discuss “Great Engineering Feats of the Gilded Age.” From ingenious engineers pushing the limits of steel to visionary moguls driven to complete massive projects, each lecture in the Series will explore the engineering feats that forever changed our idea of what is possible. A book signing follows each lecture.
Whitehall Lecture Series tickets are $28 per lecture for non-museum members; $10 for Individual, Family, and Life level Members; Free for Museum Members at the Sustaining level and above; or $150 for a six-lecture series ticket. Each ticket includes admission to the Museum. Every lecture will be simulcast, at no charge, at www.flaglermuseum.us/programs/lecture-series. Online visitors may listen live, see the presentation and e-mail the lecturer questions.
First train to Paradise: the Building of the over-sea railroad with les standiford
January 29, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. The Over-Sea Railroad was considered the greatest engineering feat ever undertaken by a private citizen, and Henry Flagler’s railroad from Miami to Key West pushed the boundaries of structural engineering. For nearly half the distance the 156 mile railroad had to be raised over water on steel and concrete bridges. During the seven year construction, three hurricanes resulted in significant damage and loss of life. Despite the hardships, the final link of the Over-Sea Railroad was completed in January 1912.
Les Standiford is the best-selling author of 20 books, including novels and critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, including: “Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean,” and “Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America,” which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
circles in the sky: george Ferris’ amazing Wheel with richard Weingardt
February 5, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. The organizers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL were determined to showcase the engineering prowess of America and surpass the Eiffel Tower as the most ingenious engineering feat of the time. George W.G. Ferris’ plan to construct a wheel, 264 feet high with 36 cars capable of holding 60 people each, was that engineering marvel. His wheel of steel spokes was unlike any that had come before and towered high above all else featured at the
Author John Loring gives a lecture in the Grand Ballroom during the 2011 Whitehall Lecture Series.
Fair. The Ferris Wheel thrust American engineering into the world spotlight and displayed a kind of innovation that had never been seen before but foretold the possibilities of the coming 20th century.
Richard Weingardt has practiced structural engineering for 50 years, and his consulting firm has completed more than 4,700 major projects worldwide. He is the author of nine books and some 600 published papers and articles on engineering, business, leadership and creativity. His latest books “Engineering Legends” features the contributions of U.S. engineers in developing this country, from the Revolutionary War to present.
conquering gotham: Building a railroad under the Hudson river with Jill Jonnes
February 12, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. In 1901 Alexander Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, set out to accomplish an engineering project so bold it would change the engineering world forever. Thought by many to result in certain disaster, Cassatt and his team had devised a plan to build a system of tunnels under the river into Manhattan. Completing this tunnel system under the mile-wide Hudson River would not only require grueling physical labor, but mucking through the convoluted politics of New York.
Jill Jonnes is the author of five books, including her trilogy of critically acclaimed Gilded Age engineering epics: “Conquering Gotham: Building Penn Station and Its Tunnels,” “Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse and the Race to Electrify the World,” and “Eiffel’s Tower: The Thrilling Story Behind Paris’s Beloved Monument and the Extraordinary World’s Fair That Introduced It.”
Water and Power: Mulholland’s Phenomenal aqueduct with Michael Hiltzik
February 19, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. Spanning more than 200 miles, the Los Angeles Aqueduct was the brainchild of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Director, William Mulholland. Shrouded by controversy, the Los Angeles Aqueduct system diverted water from nearby Owens Valley to developing Los Angeles making it possible for an essentially desert city to grow to become one of the largest cities in the world. Employing more than 5,000 workers, the project took three and a half years to complete and began operating in 1913. Since then the Aqueduct has been the primary source of water for the city of Los Angeles.
Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who has covered business, technology, and public policy for the Los Angeles Times for 20 years. In that time he has served as a financial and political writer, an investigative reporter, and as a foreign correspondent in Africa and Russia. His books include “Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century” and “The Plot Against Social Security.”
unsinkable: the rMs titanic with Daniel allen Butler
February 26, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. Launched in 1912 by White Star Line as an answer to the fierce competition for most majestic vessel, the RMS Titanic was the second of three passenger steamships meant to rule the oceans. The Titanic stretched nearly 100 feet longer than its competition, was about 12,000 tons larger, and could accommodate more than 3,000 passengers. Its frame
was made of steel and its design was innovative. The Titanic is the best known steamship ever built and a fascinating example of engineering achievement of the Gilded Age.
Daniel Allen Butler is the author of nine books of military and maritime history, including: “‘Unsinkable’ The Full Story of RMS Titanic,” and “The Other Side of the Night: the Carpathia, the Californian, and the Night the Titanic was Lost.”
Panama Fever: the Battle to Build the canal with Matthew Parker
March 4, 2012 – 3:00 p.m. Perhaps the most highly celebrated engineering triumph; the Panama Canal was celebrated in 1915 Panama Pacific World’s Fair advertisements as The Thirteenth Labor of Hercules. The construction of the Canal required more than 75,000 workmen from all over the world, but poor living conditions and social issues that arose in the Canal Zone made completing this massive engineering project a challenge.
A first-class graduate of Oxford University, he has worked as a writer, editorial consultant and a contributor to history television projects. His books include “Panama Fever: The Battle to Build the Canal,” and “The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire and War in the West Indies.”
For more information, please call the Flagler Museum at (561) 655-2833 or visit www.flaglermuseum.us.
