Discover insights into the symbols and ideas that brought the United States into being with San Diego State’s Dr. Edward J. Blum at the Coronado Public Library on August 20 at 11 a.m. During the American Revolution, Revolutionary leaders were not only fighting for independence; they were also trying to imagine what their new nation would look like. Benjamin Franklin and George Washington helped promote powerful visual symbols while writers such as the enslaved poet Phillis Wheatley and radical voices like Abigail Adams used words and imagery to challenge Americans to think about who should be included in this new nation.
Author and co-author of several books focusing on nineteenth-century United States History, Dr. Blum’s background is in politics, constitutionalism, war, society, and culture in the United States from the founding of the nation through the era of the Civil War. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, the Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, and many other outlets. He is also the Project Director for the American Revolution and Constitution History Project at SDSU, which looks to energize civic and patriotic reflection in San Diego.
Learn more about this event at cplevents.org.
VOL. 116, NO. 32 – Aug. 12, 2026