Who: Henry Adams, art historian and descendent of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams
What: Inaugural Nagel Lecture
Where: Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center, University of Minnesota
When: Thursday, October 20, 2011, 7:30 p.m.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 10/3/2011 ) -- Henry Adams, professor of American art at Case Western Reserve University and descendent of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, will deliver the inaugural Paul and Joan Nagel Lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 20 in Cowles Auditorium at the Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Adams will be introduced by Eric Black, former Star Tribune reporter and current MinnPost blogger.

Adams--an historian who has written about American artists Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton, and Jackson Pollock, among others--will speak on the work of noted historian and Adams biographer Paul Nagel.

In 2010, Nagel received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Adams Institute, joining David McCullough and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy as the only three people to receive this award. At that award ceremony, Adams remarked that Nagel's works "cover the family with a depth and from a range of perspectives that's not been equaled by any other historian. . . . No one has written about the Adams family with greater perception or truthfulness."

Sponsored by the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries, this event is free and open to the public. Reservations are requested by Thursday, October 13 at 612-624-9339 or stangret@umn.edu.

About Paul & Joan Nagel
The University of Minnesota Libraries created this lecture to honor Dr. Paul Nagel, a devoted friend of the Libraries who died in May 2011. Nagel was a former university professor and administrator, director of the Virginia Historical Society, and best-selling author of several books, including Descent from Glory: Four Generations of the John Adams Family; John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life; and The Adams Women. Nagel served on numerous boards, including as senior trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and president of the Friends of the University of Minnesota Libraries. His late wife Joan, a librarian and genealogist, was a collaborator with Paul in many of his historical works. The Nagel papers were donated to the Libraries this past year.