This winter, make time for thinking deeply about a single idea from a variety of perspectives. Led by City Historian Chris Leonard, this reading and discussion series invites participants to delve into the history and literature of American crime. We’ll meet five times, to discuss five pioneering works of new journalism and true crime writing. At each session, participants will come together with others in our community to discuss what we’ve read.
Dates (6pm-7:30pm):
-Feb. 26: Defining True Crime (Book: Compulsion, selections from True Crime: An American Anthology)
-Mar. 11: Writing True Crime (Book: The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York)
-Mar. 25: True Crime outside of books (selections from True Crime: An American Anthology, selected clips from podcasts/TV/movies)
-Apr. 8: Crimes that changed us (Book: Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America)
-Apr. 22: Serial killers and True Crime (Book: Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story of a Doctor who Got Away with Murder)
Books are available to borrow from SCHS with a small security deposit. To register, email librarian@schenectadyhistorical.org or call 518-374-0263×3
Sponsored by a Humanities New York grant