I’m excited to announce the tenth in the Freethinker’s series of free online seminars for all those interested in freethought history and its enduring relevance. The webinars, hosted by me and lasting around one hour, will feature expert guest speakers, to whom you’ll have a chance to ask your questions. There is no set schedule for these webinars; the best way to stay informed about when they are happening is to sign up for our free fortnightly newsletter, which will also keep you updated on all other things Freethinker.
The webinars will be recorded and uploaded to our YouTube channel. (This post will be updated and the video of the webinar—on which more in a moment—will appear below once the recording is available. All posts about these webinars will be accessible here, and all such posts will also be updated in due course when the webinar recordings are available, thus forming a complete catalogue of the series).
Register for Freethought History Webinar #10: Ernestine Rose, the Rabbi’s Atheist Daughter. With Bonnie S. Anderson.
The webinar will take place on 19 May 2026 at 7 pm UK time (2 pm ET/1 pm CT/12 pm MDT/11 am MST/11 am PT) via Zoom.
About the webinar: Ernestine Rose was a freethinker, a feminist, and an abolitionist—and better-known in the 1850s than either Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Susan B. Anthony. Born in Poland in 1810, she was raised as a Jew, but became a freethinker at 12. She left Poland at 16, travelled throughout Europe, and ended up in London. There, she became a follower of the socialist freethinker Robert Owen and met her husband, William Rose. In 1836, the couple emigrated to New York, where they lived until 1869.
There, Rose began to work actively for three causes: women’s rights, anti-slavery, and free thought. She lectured throughout the states, ranging west to Iowa and south to the Carolinas. She attended many conventions on all these subjects. She never divided these three causes, believing them all to be part of one great struggle for human rights and freedom. She spent the final years of her life in England, dying in 1892.
Unfortunately, Ernestine Rose was forgotten after her death. As a Jew, an atheist, a woman, and a foreigner, she did not fit into the standard narrative of US history. Today, however, she is increasingly remembered as a brave pioneer. In this webinar, her life and career will be outlined, and the case for her continued remembrance and celebration will be made.
About the speaker: Bonnie S. Anderson is Professor Emerita of History at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She was the co-author of A History of Their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present, published in the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Latin America (revised edition, 2000). She then wrote Joyous Greetings: The First International Women’s Movement, 1830-1860 (2000), published in the US and the UK, The Rabbi’s Atheist Daughter: Ernestine Rose, International Feminist Pioneer (2016), published in the US and Poland, and a forthcoming memoir, A Broad View of History: My Feminist Life. You can find out more about her and her work, and follow her blog, via her website, here.
You must register to secure your place at the webinar. To do so, click here or on the image below. I can’t wait to see you there.
With thanks to Bob Forder for suggesting these seminars and helping to organise them.
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