Bob Crawford in Conversation with Sean Wilentz: "America’s Founding Son"

Best known as the bassist for the Grammy-nominated band The Avett Brothers, Crawford brings his storytelling sensibility from the hit podcasts and to this accessible and engaging biography of John Quincy Adams, America’s original political maverick and one of the nation’s most consequential public servants.

America’s Founding Son tells the tale of Adams’s turbulent government career and his evolving views on slavery. Adams, along with lesser-known abolitionists Benjamin Lundy and Theodore Weld, found himself at the center of the coalition that leveled the first blow against slave power in the United States. The battles they fought would be foundational in the push for emancipation to follow. An entertaining deep dive into an under explored period in American history, America’s Founding Son shows how John Quincy Adams and the grassroots activism of the 1830s and ’40s shifted American politics forever.

Registration is required for this free event, with the option to pre-order a copy of the book. Books will be available for sale and signing following the conversation. Please note there will not be a photo-op.

Doors will open at 3:30pm.

Bob Crawford is the bassist for the Grammy-nominated band the Avett Brothers, and creator of the iHeart Curiosity podcast series, Founding Son: John Quincy’s America and The SiriusXM Volume Channel Docuseries Concerts of Change: The Soundtrack of Human Rights. He’s also co-host of the Road to Now history podcast. However, Bob does not just play a historian—in 2020 he earned a master’s degree in history from Arizona State University. More important than his passion for music and history is his dedication to raising awareness about pediatric cancer. Bob and his wife, Melanie, are co-managing partners for The Press On Fund, an organization that seeks to find less toxic treatments for childhood cancer. Bob is periodically a speaker on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. It’s a personal cause, as Bob’s daughter Hallie is a three-time cancer survivor.

Sean Wilentz is the author of many books on American history and politics, including No Property in Man; The Rise of American Democracy; and The Politicians and the Egalitarians, chosen as Best History Book of the Year by Kirkus. He is Professor of American History at Princeton University.

This event is co-sponsored by , , and Labyrinth Books.

“Bob Crawford’s America’s Founding Son is a riveting account of the extraordinary life of John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth president. Adams touched nearly every great issue of his time: liberty, expansion, democracy, and the fight for human freedom. His story is not just the tale of one man’s life, but of the birth, contradictions, and enduring promise of the United States itself. Adams’s unyielding moral vision and lifelong devotion to service and principle, often at the expense of popularity, make him a figure of uncommon integrity in American history. It’s a story all the more meaningful today.” —Ken Burns, filmmaker

“Brilliantly rendered…Every page crackles with fresh insights and telling anecdotes.” —Douglas Brinkley, New York Times bestselling author, and professor of history at Rice University

"John Quincy Adams has had no shortage of biographers, but Bob Crawford's America’s Founding Son presents a fresh and exciting new take on the life of one of the most remarkable Americans of his era. With his engaging and highly readable style, Crawford admirably captures the man and his times. America’s Founding Son is an excellent addition to the literature on America's sixth president."— James M. Bradley, author of Martin Van Buren: America's First Politician

“To both his podcasts and his book, America’s Founding Son, Bob Crawford brings a fun and engaging flare that all fellow history enthusiasts will love. Can’t wait for him to take on his next subject."—Douglas Brunt, New York Times bestselling author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

“A gripping narrative of the life of John Quincy Adams, the president, peacemaker, and freedom fighter who rose with the new nation, and called it to its highest principles as it was coming apart. Crawford delivers a lively, energetic, and substantive look at his extraordinary legacy, one that is, like all the best history, urgently relevant today.” —Chris DeRose, New York Times bestselling author of The Fighting Bunch

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Host or Publisher Co-presented by Labyrinth Books and the Princeton Public Library