Shoemaker Events
The Shoemaker Visiting Lecture Series
Westtown’s Shoemaker Events Program is an annual series of lectures and performances, open to the entire Westtown community and frequently, to the public. A legacy since the 1960s of the Shoemaker and Flaccus families, the Shoemaker Program brings to campus performers and thinkers who are leaders in their fields. An important part of the Shoemaker visits includes opportunities for students to interact with these artists and lecturers.
In the past, Shoemaker visitors have included people such as- Writers: poets Robert Frost and David Whyte, Harlem Renaissance novelist Dorothy West, Anne Tyler, Gloria Naylor, Lorene Cary
- Scientists: forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley, paleontologist Peter Dodson, geneticist and physician D. Holmes Morton
- Journalists: Juan Williams, author of Eyes on the Prize; NPR’s Susan Stamberg, Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood ‘68, Inquirer editorial cartoonist Tony Auth
- Musicians: Pete Seeger, African Children’s Choir, Habana Sax, Philadelphia Virtuosi Orchestra, David Bromberg and Angel Band
- Other Performers: Philadanco, Tamagawa University Taiko Drummers, First State Ballet, Bread and Puppet Theater, National Theater for the Deaf, juggler Michael Moschen, Folk Arts Rajasthan
- Humanitarians: Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, CORE’s James Farmer, Elie Wiesel, Hanan Ashwari, founder of the Palestinian Independent Commission of Human Rights; Project H.O.M.E.’s Sister Mary Scullion, Kevin Bales of Free the Slaves, Kevin Jennings of GLSEN
- Other Artists: mural artist Jane Golden, filmmakers Nathaniel Kahn and Kavery Kaul, National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum, Keith Middleton and the film Stomp!
