Lecture 1: Namesake of Humboldt Parkway

Discover the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary explorer, scientist, humanitarian, and namesake of Buffalo NY’s Humboldt Parkway. In this one-hour lecture, you will encounter a man whose curiosity carried him across continents and whose ideas transformed the world’s understanding of nature, climate, and the interconnectedness of life.

Humboldt was also a passionate and lifelong abolitionist who condemned slavery as “the greatest evil that ever afflicted humanity,” rejected the notion that race was a biological category, and declared in his masterwork, Cosmos, that “all are alike designed for freedom.” Far ahead of his time, his outspoken opposition to slavery, colonialism, and human exploitation was as courageous as it was groundbreaking.

DATE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2026 @ 11:00 AM EST

Registration Fee - $25.00

Lecture 2: History of Humboldt Parkway

Step into the compelling history of Humboldt Parkway, once one of Buffalo NY’s most beautiful and celebrated public landscapes. Designed as part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s visionary park and parkway system, this grand, tree-lined, two-mile long boulevard connected Delaware Park with Humboldt Park, now Martin Luther King Jr. Park, while providing East Side residents with a scenic place for walking, gathering, nature, and community life.

In this one-hour lecture, discover how Humboldt Parkway shaped Buffalo’s identity, why it became the chosen route for the Kensington Expressway, and how its destruction transformed surrounding neighborhoods through displacement, division, environmental harm, and the loss of a treasured space.

DATE: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2026 @ 11:00 AM EST

Registration Fee - $25.00