Founding Friends, Founding Foes

5:30 pm Wine Reception

6:00 pm Panel Discussion

7:15 pm Q&A

Join us at the Truman Library for a panel conversation on the civic power and possibilities, as well as potential pitfalls, of finding common cause. Panelists will discuss the challenges and triumphs of the American Revolution and early United States, revealing how a democracy was born through disagreement, coalition-building, and a commitment to shared values.

We’ll reflect on the compelling, yet often hard, group work of democracy. This was famously true for our second and third presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — leaders who were both allies and bitter, partisan rivals. There’s much to unpack and learn from this particular Founding-era relationship. 

Dr. Kurt Graham joined the Adams Presidential Center as its inaugural president on October 15, 2024. Previous to joining the APC, Graham was the Director of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum in Independence, Missouri. As director, he oversaw a $30M renovation of the principal museum exhibits and dramatically expanded the Library’s educational and public programming. He has also directed the McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Prior to his work in the public history field, Graham was a member of the history faculty at California State University, San Bernardino, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in American political and legal/constitutional history. He has a Ph.D. in American history from Brown University and a B.A. and an M.A. from Brigham Young University in English and American studies, respectively. He is the author of To Bring Law Home: The Federal Judiciary in Early National Rhode Island (Northern Illinois University Press, 2010).

Steve Light has worked at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello for over twelve years and currently serves as Vice President for Education and Guest Experience. In this role, he leads Monticello's education and interpretation initiatives, exhibition development, and guest-facing departments. During his time at Monticello, Light has helped shape Monticello's highly regarded training curriculum for frontline interpreters and many of the historic site's signature tour experiences, such as Founding Friends, Founding Foes. Before joining Monticello in 2013, he worked as Manager of Museum Programs at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. He earned a B.A. in history from Gettysburg College, with a minor in Civil War Era studies, and an M.A. in history museum studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. He is also a graduate of the History Leadership Institute, organized by the American Association for State and Local History.