Center for the literary arts in New York State
Edward Berenson: A Slideshow
A featured event of the University at Albany History Department's
Researching New York Conference
Edward Berenson
historian and author
Thursday, November 21, 2019
4:15 p.m. Craft talk - Note new location: Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West, UAlbany Uptown Campus
7:30 p.m. Conversation/Q&A - NYS Museum,
222 Madison Ave, Albany
Free and open to the public
Edward Berenson, noted scholar of modern French history, presents his new book, The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town (2019), a chilling investigation of a remarkable incident of antisemitism in the upstate town of Massena, New York in 1928.
After a 4-year-old girl vanished in the woods, townspeople and police accused local Jews of committing "ritual murder," a popular slander against the Jews of Europe during the Middle Ages.
A native of Massena, Berenson is Professor of History and Director of the Institute of French Studies at NYU. His recent books include The Statue of Liberty: A Transatlantic Story (2012), and Heroes of Empire: Five Charismatic Men and the Conquest of Africa (2010).
Recipient of the American Historical Association’s Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award, Berenson was named Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite by French President Jacques Chirac in 2006.
““[A] thoughtful history....Berenson’s study benefits from his having interviewed several people alive at the time, including Griffiths, and wisely avoids sensationalism. Readers interested in the recurrence of anti-Semitism in the U.S. will find food for thought here.”
― Publishers Weekly
Berenson's presentation is a featured public event of the University at Albany History Department’s annual Researching New York Conference, and is cosponsored by the New York State Writers Institute, and the Programs in Judaic Studies and Religious Studies.
Read reviews of The Accusation
NPR: 'The Accusation' Tracks The False Narrative Of Blood Libel, published Sept. 13, 2019
New York Times: When an Ancient Slander Against Jews Came to America, published Sept. 20, 2019
More information on the Researching New York Conference: www.nystatehistory.org.