Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
At Sulgrave Manor Trust we see the Special Relationship as a great example of collaboration, of challenging perceptions about each other, and of working together to overcome differences. It lies at the heart of everything we do and the experiences we offer. Our current programme of activity offers strands for a wide range of audiences.
Free digital seminars in conjunction with academic partners from the UK and USA for the public, Further and Higher Education students.
Internship placements with Oxford University’s Crankstart programme offering work experience and employability skills building for the most financially challenged students.
Partnership working with charitable organisations to deliver projects designed to benefit both charities users.
Family fun days and school holiday activities using our site and collections to encourage multi-generational groups to collaborate and get creative using our collections and site as a basis for learning together.
Open for groups and day visitors to explore the Manor, garden and exhibitions.
In November each year Sulgrave Manor plays host to a lively discussion between local sixth formers and former congressmen from the USA. Each programme sees a Republican and a Democrat visit the UK to talk with student and general audiences about contemporary US politics. Working with the US Association of Former Members of Congress, the programme is coordinated by the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library, with support from the British Association for American Studies and the US Embassy London.
With supporters on both sides of the Atlantic we understand that many of our friends or colleagues may never be able to visit in person. The Sulgrave Seminar Series started in 2021 in response to lockdown and as a way of keeping in touch with our supporters. To date the seminars have featured a range of topics and speakers from a number of leading Universities.
We are proud of our ever increasing network of academic partners and are always eager to respond to their requests for new events or to explore new subjects related to our charitable aims.
The First workshop was titled Sulgrave as House and Symbol and our speakers were Dr Sam Edwards (MMU) and Dr Grace Mallon (Oxford). Our panellists explored what the house (and its 16th-century estate) discloses and what it does not, the questions and problems to which it points, and its symbolic power. Chaired by Dr Nigel Bowles, (SMT Ch
The First workshop was titled Sulgrave as House and Symbol and our speakers were Dr Sam Edwards (MMU) and Dr Grace Mallon (Oxford). Our panellists explored what the house (and its 16th-century estate) discloses and what it does not, the questions and problems to which it points, and its symbolic power. Chaired by Dr Nigel Bowles, (SMT Chair 2019-2022)
Our speakers for the second session, Common Ground and Differences, were Dr Jay Sexton (Kinder Institute, Missouri), and Dr Tom Cutterham (University of Birmingham). Our panellists explored areas of common ground and areas of difference between Britain and the United States in the long arc of transatlantic relations since 1781; what the character, purposes, and understandings of George Washington himself disclose about America’s place in the late eighteenth-century world; and the points of connection, disconnection, and disruption in the structuring of relations between the United States and Britain in the succeeding centuries.
Sulgrave’s Autumn 2021 Seminar focussed upon two Presidents: George Washington, and Ronald Reagan, linked by the topic of building and rebuilding trust in the idea of America, and by the question: “How do presidents go about the task of building trust in new institutional arrangements, or rebuilding it in those cases where it had been sha
Sulgrave’s Autumn 2021 Seminar focussed upon two Presidents: George Washington, and Ronald Reagan, linked by the topic of building and rebuilding trust in the idea of America, and by the question: “How do presidents go about the task of building trust in new institutional arrangements, or rebuilding it in those cases where it had been shattered?” The seminar linked George Washington’s ancestral home at Sulgrave Manor in England with his own home at Mount Vernon in Virginia.
The first part of the seminar comprised talks by Dr Nicholas Cole of Pembroke College, Oxford, and Dr Grace Mallon, of the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford, under the moderation of Dr Kevin Butterfield, Executive Director of George Washington’s Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. For Washington, a fundamental problem was how to establish trust in a system defined by suspicion of government and authority, and in a context where the new Republic’s survival was uncertain.
The second part of the seminar comprised talks by Professor Gareth Davies of University College, London, and Dr Nigel Bowles, of the Sulgrave Manor Trust, under the moderation of Dr Nadia Hilliard of University College, London. For Reagan, a major challenge was to break out of the historical context of seeming American military, economic, and reputational weakness and of growing distrust of Americans in their institutions that Reagan exploited to defeat Carter in 1980. The talks considered Reagan’s values, and their relationship to trust, and his pursuit of greatness both for himself and for the United States.
At various times since his death Abraham Lincoln has been adopted as a democratic talisman by each of the main American political parties. Most recently, in 2020, when anti-Trump Republicans formed a Political Action Committee to stop the re-election of a president they judged a threat to democracy, they took the name The Lincoln Project.
Lincoln’s public career coincided with the emergence of mass democratic politics in the United States. Running for office during the 1830s and 1840s, he did much to develop the art of party management and winning elections. As an Illinois state legislator and a US congressman, he handled adroitly the interplay of public opinion and law-making.
Victorious in the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln inherited a political crisis that would culminate in civil war. As the Union’s commander-in-chief he adapted his leadership to the new realities of constitutional government in wartime, battlefield carnage, and turbulent public opinion. Yet state and national elections in the North went ahead largely as prescribed. In an ultimate test of democratic practice, the president himself stood for re-election in 1864 – and won.
In this lecture Professor Richard Cawardine examined Lincoln’s political values and practice, and asked: what kind of a democrat was he?
Marking Juneteenth for the first time SMT invited Dr Nina Yancy to speak to us about the subject of her new book.
What is the relationship between where White Americans live and what they think about issues related to race? What does that tell us about the nature of anti-Black prejudice in America today? In honour of Juneteenth, SMT held a
Marking Juneteenth for the first time SMT invited Dr Nina Yancy to speak to us about the subject of her new book.
What is the relationship between where White Americans live and what they think about issues related to race? What does that tell us about the nature of anti-Black prejudice in America today? In honour of Juneteenth, SMT held a conversation about these questions with Nina Yancy, author of How the Color Line Bends: The Geography of White Prejudice in Modern America (Oxford University Press).
How the Color Line Bends starts with a deep dive into Baton Rouge, Louisiana amidst a racialised fight over schools and cityhood, and then examines attitudes toward welfare spending and affirmative action in cities across the United States. In the process, the book explores topics ranging from power and positionality, to racial segregation, to White liberals, to the Black middle class.
Nina Yancy is a 2013 graduate of Harvard College and went on to earn her doctorate in political science from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She has several years of experience as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she has served clients across federal, state, and local government, as well as in the social sector, with a focus on workforce and economic development, re-skilling for the future of work, and promoting racial equity. Nina also is a contributor to the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, where she has co-authored research on topics including financial inclusion and Black entrepreneurship.
Proponents of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain have presented the connection as the inexorable outcome of shared culture, language, and traditions. But this view masks the true origins of the transatlantic connection, which can be found in moments of acute geopolitical crisis. This lecture by Dr Jay S
Proponents of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain have presented the connection as the inexorable outcome of shared culture, language, and traditions. But this view masks the true origins of the transatlantic connection, which can be found in moments of acute geopolitical crisis. This lecture by Dr Jay Sexton will sketch out the crises that made the special relationship, before concluding with the suggestion that, once again, we found ourselves on the precipice of an alliance making (or breaking) era of global instability.
The "Special Relationship" has been declared dead on multiple occasions over the last fifty years. And yet as phrase and idea it continues to occupy a powerful position in transatlantic political culture. Is this some sort of Zombie diplomacy? An idea that refuses to die even though its means of sustenance seem increasingly absent? This lecture by Dr Sam Edwards examines the origins of the "special relationship" as post-war British aspiration, and it suggests that at the moment of its first public articulation (in 1946) it quickly entered the realms of political mythology (as Churchill, a uniquely skilled mythologiser, always intended). To this extent, the "special relationship" is akin to an article of faith; it has become a matter of belief. Hence why it survives despite repeated obituaries. It exists because it exists, and no evidence of its apparent decline or disappearance has yet proved sufficient to occasion its demise.
We are currently developing our programme for the next two years and will be soon be announcing the next dates for your diary.
Following the success of our online community events we have decided to welcome a smaller number of participants to take part in some day long workshops and seminars. Drawing on the collections and narratives in our exhibitions, our academic partners and our wonderful venue we will invite attendees to take part in discussions, learn from the life and legacy of George Washington and debate what it means to be a successful leader in today’s world.
If you would like to get involved in any of our programmes please contact Dr Sam Edwards at education@sulgravemanor.org.uk
Copyright © 2022 Sulgrave Manor & Gardens - All Rights Reserved.
Charity no: 1003839
We use cookies to analyse website traffic and optimise your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data but will not be passed onto any third party.