Shoemaker Events
The Shoemaker Visiting Lecture Series
Westtown’s Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer Series schedules a succession distinguished visitors each year who move our students toward self-education and self-knowledge. Programs are open to the entire Westtown community and frequently, to the public as well.
A legacy since the 1960s of the Shoemaker and Flaccus families, the Shoemaker Series brings to campus talented men and women from a variety of fields. An important part of the Shoemaker visits includes opportunities for Westtown students to interact with these individuals.
In the past, Shoemaker visitors have included people such as
- Writers: poets Robert Frost and Sonia Sanchez, Junot Diaz, Anne Tyler, Lorene Cary
- Scientists: forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley, paleontologist Peter Dodson, geneticist and physician D. Holmes Morton
- Humanitarians: Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Elie Wiesel, economist and food activist Raj Patel, Project H.O.M.E.’s Sister Mary Scullion, Kevin Jennings of GLSEN
- Journalists: Juan Williams, author of Eyes on the Prize; NPR’s Susan Stamberg, Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood ‘65, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Tony Auth
- Musicians: Pete Seeger, African Children’s Choir, Habana Sax, Philadelphia Virtuosi Orchestra, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars
- Other Performers: Philadanco, Tamagawa University Taiko Drummers, First State Ballet, National Theater for the Deaf, Folk Arts Rajasthan
- Other Artists: Mural Arts director Jane Golden, filmmakers Nathaniel Kahn and Kavery Kaul, ambigram artist John Langdon
