Louis P. Masur

Louis Masur is Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University. A graduate of the University at Buffalo and Princeton University, he is a cultural historian who has written on a variety of topics. His most recent book is A Journey North: Jefferson, Madison, and the Forging of a Friendship (2025). He is also the author of The Sum of Our Dreams: A Concise History of America (2020). A specialist on Lincoln and the Civil War, he is the author of Lincoln's Last Speech: Wartime Reconstruction & The Crisis of Reunion (2015), Lincoln’s Hundred Days: The Emancipation Proclamation and the War for the Union (2012), and The Civil War: A Concise History (2011). He has also written books on a single photograph (The Soiling of Old Glory), a seminal record album (Runaway Dream: Born to Run and Bruce Springsteen's American Vision), the events of a year (1831: Year of Eclipse), and the first World Series (Autumn Glory). In 2023, he wrote the script for Rock 101: The Music and Stories of Ten Classic Songs, a show that premiered in Woodstock, NY. Masur’s essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and Slate. He has been elected to membership of the American Antiquarian Society, Colonial Society of Massachusetts, and the Society of American Historians and has received teaching prizes from Harvard University, the City College of New York, Trinity College and Rutgers University.

Lansing Town Hall was organized by a group of women in 1953 to raise funds for the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Since then, Lansing audiences have enjoyed some of the finest programs available on the lecture circuit. We appreciate your support and hope you will enjoy our 72nd season.

Individual lecture tickets are $45 each. Please call (517) 323-1045 for tickets.