Acclaimed Professors from across the Nation to Take on Wealth, Power, Culture, and Baseball over Breakfast at The New York Historical 

Breakfast University at the New York Historical. Courtesy of The New York Historical.

Breakfast University, a semester-based monthly lecture series, to run May 4 – August 3, 2026, in celebration of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, The New York Historical launches its Spring/Summer semester of Breakfast University, a public lecture series bringing some of the nation’s most acclaimed scholars to lead urgent conversations about America’s past, present, and future from May 4 – August 3, 2026. 

Held monthly, this limited-run series pairs breakfast with big ideas, offering audiences insider access to leading historians tackling some of today’s most debated topics, from extreme wealth and political power to cultural influence and America’s enduring love of baseball. 

The Spring/Summer semester of Breakfast University will feature the following sessions:

Monday, May 4, 9 am ET
Wealth in America, From Vanderbilt to Bezos
Professor Jeremi Suri, The University of Texas at Austin, examines early industrial titans and how they would go on to shape generations of wealth builders, leaving an enduring imprint on American democracy and the role of extreme wealth within it.

Monday, June 1, 9 am ET
What Would the Founding Fathers Think of America Today?
Professor Wendy Schiller, Brown University, examines how actions taken by the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court have reshaped federal power and individual rights, and how these developments align with the Constitution’s original principles.

Monday, July 13, 9 am ET
Musical Masterpieces that Changed America
From “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Strange Fruit” to Graceland and Hamilton, this presentation explores moments where music wound its way through the halls of Congress, influencing decisions and reshaping culture with Professor Anna Celenza, Johns Hopkins University.

Monday, August 3, 9 am ET
Baseball’s 10 Greatest Players and What They Mean to America
Experience America’s enduring love affair with baseball through a discussion of the game’s greatest players of all time with Professor Vincent Cannato, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Ticket buyers purchase entire semesters with each lecture featuring a new, provocative one-hour talk. Breakfast is served beginning 8:15 am, and each lecture will be followed by a Q&A session.

The Robert H. Smith Auditorium at The New York Historical 
170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street)
New York, NY 10024
www.nyhistory.org 
(212) 873-3400

Or via livestream. All attendees registered prior to 7 am ET the day of each event will be contacted with instructions for viewing the livestream the day before and the day of the program.

TICKETS
In-person tickets: $250
Livestream tickets: $160 

About The New York Historical 
New York’s first museum, The New York Historical is a leading cultural institution covering over 400 years of American history. Our offerings span groundbreaking exhibitions; peerless collections of art, documents, and artifacts; acclaimed educational programs for teachers and students nationwide; and thought-provoking conversations among leading scholars, journalists, and thinkers about the past, present, and future of the American experiment. The New York Historical is a museum of museums and a collection of collections. We are home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, the Center for Women’s History, the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, and the future American LGBTQ+ Museum. We elevate the perspectives and scholarship that define the United States’ democratic heritage and challenge us all to shape our ongoing history for the better. Connect with us at nyhistory.org or at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Tumblr.