Albany Institute of History & Art (125 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12210)
The Life and Times of Martin Van Buren - Talk by James M. Bradley with Akum Norder
Author James M. Bradley is joined by Times Union editor Akum Norder in a Q&A-style discussion on the life and times of Martin Van Buren. The event is organized in conjunction with the publication of Bradley's biography, Martin Van Buren: America's First Politician, released on December 2, 2024. The book tells the complete story of the father of American political parties, and how the very party he developed came to overpower his political ambitions, while presenting a different angle of early US history, the development of US government, and the lead-up to the Civil War.
The talk will conclude with a book signing by James M. Bradley with books available for purchase.
The program is free; museum admission is free as part of Albany First Friday.
James M. Bradley is co-editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers, based at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. He is an Adjunct Instructor in the public history program at State University of New York at Albany, and was the Senior Project Editor of Encyclopedia of New York City, published by Yale University Press.
Akum Norder is the Times Union senior editor for opinion. The author of The History of Here: A House, the Pine Hills Neighborhood, and the City of Albany (SUNY Press, 2018), she also writes occasional feature stories with an eye to local history.
