Thank you for joining our
78th SEASON!
a forum of ideas since 1946
2025 Summer Lecture Series
Thank you so much for joining us for a great summer of ideas! It was a pleasure seeing you in the Meetinghouse!
July 11th
Alan Rumrill
Monadnock Originals: Colorful Characters from New Hampshire’s Quiet Corner
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The Monadnock Region has been referred to as New Hampshire’s quiet corner. It is known for its historic villages and beautiful natural landscape, but it has not always been quiet. Alan Rumrill will share stories of fame, fortune, scandal, and the characters, including Mark Twain and Amelia Earhart, who have given the region its unique identity.
Bio: Alan Rumrill is a native and current resident of the town of Stoddard, NH where his family has lived since 1770. He served as Executive Director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County for 41 years and now serves as the organization’s senior historian. He has written ten books on local history, has presented more than 1,000 public programs on local history topics, and has developed and presented more than 1,500 articles and radio programs on historic subjects.
July 18th
Sam Evans Brown
The Energy Transition And Why It’s Inevitable
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From plummeting solar and battery prices to breakthroughs in electrified transportation, the transition to a cleaner, more efficient energy system isn’t just inevitable; it’s happening faster than anyone could have imagined. Drawing on the transformative power of “learning curve” economics—the cost reductions achieved as clean energy technologies scale and mature—an unstoppable shift toward a radically different energy future is already underway. For a State like New Hampshire, the question is how the State should best position itself to take advantage of this new reality.
Bio: Sam leads Clean Energy New Hampshire in its effort to create a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient energy system in the Granite State. Sam grew up in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Prior to joining Clean Energy New Hampshire in 2021 he was a radio journalist with New Hampshire Public Radio for nearly ten years, during which time he was the founding host of one of the station’s first podcasts, Outside/In, answering listeners’ environmental questions on the Ask Sam segment. He wrote stories about New England energy issues extensively and won several regional and national awards. He’s an excellent bike mechanic, a certified Spanish medical interpreter, and a father of two.
July 25th
Paul Wainwright
New England’s Colonial Meetinghouses:
A Little-Known Chapter of American History
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New England’s Colonial Meetinghouses stand as monuments to the formation of our nation and our culture. In the 17th and 18th centuries, every New England town had one – it was a requirement for receiving a Town Charter from the Colonial Governor. In them, our forefathers and mothers shaped and formed many of our civic and religious foundations, and they were at the center of our communities, both figuratively and literally. Using photographs of the few remaining meetinghouses, this presentation will tell their story.
Bio: Paul Wainwright received his PhD in physics from Yale in 1977, and his life has followed many passions. Professionally, he worked at Bell Labs where, in a small way, he helped to improve our nation’s telephone network. Outside of gainful employment, photography has long been one of Paul’s expressive outlets, and beginning in 2004 he started photographing meetinghouses in the six New England states. Through researching and visiting these places, Paul realized that there is an important chapter in American history that needs to be told, and his work has evolved to become both his presentation at the Forum, as well as his book, A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England.
August 1st
Hahrie Han
Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity
in an American Church
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Han chronicles the story of four participants whose lives were fundamentally altered by Undivided, a faith-based program designed to foster antiracism and systemic change. As each of their journeys unfolded – in unpredictable and sometimes painful ways – they came to better understand one another, and to believe in the transformative possibilities for racial solidarity in a moment of deep divisiveness in America. The lessons they learned have the power to teach us all what an undivided society might look like – and how we can help achieve one.
Bio: Hahrie Han is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science, the inaugural Director of SNF Agora Institute, and the Director of P3 research lab at Johns Hopkins University. An elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has published four previous books: Prisms of the People; How organizations Develop Activists; Groundbreakers; and Moved to Action. Her most recent book was awarded the 2022 Michael Harrington Book Award from the American Political Science Association for “scholarship contributing to the struggles for a better World,” and she was also named a 2022 Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation. She has written for the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the New Republic, among other national publications. The daughter of Korean immigrants, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
August 8th
Abigail LePage
Ten Generations: Deep Roots
and Scientific Pursuits
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Having multiple generations live in one town has become uncommon, and ten generations is practically unheard of. Farmers, inn keepers, educators and at least one physicist make up the history of this long time Jaffrey family. The Forum will discover what it has been like for Abigail Gallup LePage to grow up in a deep-rooted family town and find a career in a unique industry. The company that she now runs in Wilton, NH makes enabling technology for the semiconductor industry that produces the integrated circuits most of our cell phones depend on.
Bio: Abigail grew up in Jaffrey, attended the public school system and graduated as class valedictorian. She went on to study at Bates College and got a BS in Physics. After graduation she remained to run the introductory Physics Lab for two years. With the death of her mother in 1997, she explored what might be available in her field that would allow her to return to her Jaffrey home. Kimball Physics in Wilton, NH welcomed her into the company as a technician in their lab. From technician in 1998 to CEO in 2021, Abigail worked her way to the top. Today, the company continues to thrive and grow with a special team following the mission statement: To advance humankind by doing good physics – specifically electron optics and vacuum physics – and all the while growing, being good citizens, making a living, and having fun. This session will use an interview format facilitated by William Baker.
August 15th
Tricia Rose Burt
Conformity to Courage:
This is No Time to be Timid
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With more than four million podcasts available, why make another one? Hancock resident and acclaimed storyteller Tricia Rose Burt describes her unconventional journey from clueless amateur to award-winning producer — at age 64 — of the podcast “No Time to be Timid.” She will share her passion for giving artists, including those from the Monadnock region, a platform to tell their stories; her ongoing commitment to elevating courage and creativity; and a manifesto by which to live.
Bio: After spending nearly 15 years with some of America’s top business institutions, Tricia Rose Burt made a dramatic shift and enrolled in art school. This bold move led to a decade as a visual artist until the 2008 market crash forced another pivot. She created an award-winning one-woman show — How to Draw a Nekkid Man — about her transformation from executive to artist, and her storytelling career took off after performing with The Moth. Tricia combines her corporate background and artistic experience, teaching storytelling to executives and leading a movement called No Time to be Timid to encourage artists and entrepreneurs.
August 22nd
Dayton Duncan
How New Hampshire Helped Save the American Buffalo From Extinction
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Returning to the Amos Fortune Forum, Dayton Duncan will herald the improbable story of an eccentric nature writer and a small herd of bison in Plainfield, NH, in the early 1900s, and how they led to a national movement that brought the species back from the brink of disappearing forever. The story is part of Duncan’s most recent book, Blood Memory: The Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo.
Bio: Dayton Duncan is the author of fourteen books and for more than thirty years has collaborated with Ken Burns as a writer and producer of historical documentaries for PBS, including The West; Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery; The Dust Bowl; Country Music; The National Parks: America’s Best Idea; Benjamin Franklin,and most recently The American Buffalo. His films and books have won numerous awards, including two primetime Emmys. An Iowa native, Duncan moved to southwestern New Hampshire in 1971. He and his wife, Dianne, live in Rindge, on Contoocook Lake.
The Amos Fortune Forum 