The City of Worcester will be featured on C-SPAN’s “Cities Tour” Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20. As part of the “Cities Tour,” C-SPAN travels to mid-size cities across the country and features select history and literary life in that community. Worcester is one of 16 cities to be highlighted this year. The segments will air over the weekend on Book TV on C-SPAN2 (Charter Communications channel 85/HD 836) and American History TV on C-SPAN3 (Charter channel 86/HD 837). It will also be available online.
In Worcester, C-SPAN learned about American rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard, the Worcester Revolution of 1774, even the history of Harvey Ball and his creation of the smiley face in the City; C-SPAN also spoke with numerous local authors, including Edward O’Donnell, associate professor of history at Holy Cross.
O’Donnell spoke to the television outlet about his new book “Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age,” (Columbia University, June 2015). O’Donnell, who specializes in 19th century U.S. urban history and Irish-American history, among other fields, published this biography on a 19th century American social activist, Henry George. George spoke widely about increasing economic inequality in America’s Gilded Age. The American Gilded Age, 1870-1900, marked a dramatic increase in the country’s wealth and industrial output. However, George highlighted the pitfalls of this new industrial revival: an increase in poverty around the country.
O’Donnell, also an expert on the history of Christmas traditions, will be featured in a Christmas episode of “America: Facts vs. Fiction,” which will air on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 10 p.m. on the American Heroes Channel.
O’Donnell, a member of the Holy Cross class of 1986, earned his Ph.D. in American history from Columbia University. He is the author of several books, including “Visions of America: A History of the United States” (Pearson, 2009) and also writes a blog InThePastLane.com.
Related Information
- WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Nov. 25: ‘The Curse of Black Friday’
- Newsweek, Sept. 9: ‘Laboring Against Inequality’