Crossing the Hudson

On Sunday, November 20, at 2:00 PM, the Summit Free Public Library will host “Crossing Under the Hudson”, a talk by Angus Kress Gillespie, Professor of American Studies at Rutgers University. The Lincoln and Holland Tunnels are key links in the transportation infrastructure of New York and New Jersey. What comes to mind when we think of these tunnels? Traffic. Honk. Beep. Beep. Exhaust. Moving beyond that view, Gillespie takes a fresh look at their planning and construction. With a lively and entertaining approach, Gillespie explores these two monumental works of civil engineering and the public that embraced them. He describes and analyzes the building of the tunnels, introduces listeners to the people who worked there—then and now—and places the structures into a meaningful cultural context with the music, art, literature, and motion pictures that these tunnels, engineering marvels of their day, have inspired over the years. This program is funded by the Horizon Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. All are welcome, and admission is free, but seating is limited. First come, first seated. Doors open 30 minutes before the program begins.