Lectures on Tap Tuesday and Wednesday

Two lectures, one on modern history and wet, another on early Salem history and dry, are coming up this week.

U Think on Tuesday

U Think returns on Tuesday to Brown's Towne. But this wet one's too dry! This is the first of the lectures that seems like it might be too serious.

Willamette University's U Think series will explore the meanings of various political ideologies, such as socialism and Marxism, by considering policies implemented by the Obama administration in historical context.

Willamette history professor and socialism expert Bill Smaldone will deliver the talk...Smaldone is the author of "Confronting Hitler: German Social Democrats in Defense of the Weimar Republic, 1929-1933," and he is currently writing a textbook on socialism.

Maybe beer is the solvent for tea...? We suspect Smaldone will conclude Obama is far from a socialist, significantly to the right of FDR, and indeed in another era could be counted as a centrist, moderate Republican. In fact, we suspect Mark Hatfield and Obama would have got along splendidly.

We wish Smaldone might talk instead about the way capitalists co-opt socialist imagery in popular marketing!

How about talk, Poseurs and Poses: Branding and Socialist Iconography.

Jewish Pioneers on Wednesday

As part of the Sendakorama, "In a Nutshell: The Worlds of Maurice Sendak," at the library John Ritter presents a talk, "Fur Traders, Blanket Peddlers, Tinsmiths, Iron Mongers: Jewish Pioneers of Old Salem" at
7:00 p.m. in Loucks Auditorium.

Local historian John Ritter will explore the rich diversity of the first Jewish Pioneers to the city of Salem, their occupations, where they lived and traded, and the community they built.

His presentation will focus on the early Jewish business owners in Salem from the 1900s-1950s and the people with whom they traded: Native Americans, Hudson's Bay Engages, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Hawaiians, Germans and other Salem residents. Jewish pioneers helped build downtown Salem and make it a thriving commercial area.

No beer for this one, however. We're also not sure about the dates, wondering if the pioneers should refer to 1800s-1850s rather than the 20th century.

We hope Sam Adolph and his early brewery will get a shout out.

Jews in early Salem are not well known, and this is a terrific topic for research and a lecture.