‘Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story’ Launch a Success

The “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” project launched in October 2021 with events focusing on the inaugural theme “Portrait of Scranton, Portrait of a Nation.

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The “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” project launched in October 2021 with events focusing on the inaugural theme “Portrait of Scranton, Portrait of a Nation” including a keynote lecture with Scranton-born prolific author Jay Parini and a Jane Jacobs Walk focusing on Scranton’s downtown Lackawanna Avenue.

Events continued through the winter of 2022 with the project’s second theme, “The U.S. Citizen and the American Founding” featuring a book discussion, humanities discussion with scholars Annelein De Dijn and Aziz Rana and a community dialogue. The project continued with its third theme, “The Indigenous History of NEPA” this spring.

The two-year “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” project is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and aligns with its theme “A More Perfect Union” in the run-up to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. in 2026.

“Through this project, over the next two years, we have the opportunity to highlight Scranton as its own place-based text,” said Julie Schumacher Cohen, assistant vice president of Community Engagement and Government Affairs at Scranton, at the project’s announcement event. “We think we have diverse human experiences here that reflect the broader American experience. We can consider our roles as members of a community here in Scranton and as part of the broader American democracy. And to continue what is still an aspirational journey to fulfill our national ideals of freedom, justice and equality.”

“Scranton Stories” is a part of the project focused on collecting the many diverse experiences and perspectives that make up the city of Scranton, what it means to be a “Scrantonian” and what hopes the people of Scranton have as they look to both the future of the city and the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

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VIDEO: Scranton's Story, Our Nation's Story

Watch videos of events from the "Scranton's Story, Our Nation's Story" project.

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