Past Christmas Lectures

Each year the Flagler Museum presents a special Christmas lecture focusing on the popular stories or topics of the Gilded Age. The lectures give insight into how Gilded Age events shaped our modern Christmas traditions. Afterwards audience members are encouraged to enjoy the Museum's Tree Lighting festivities.

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas:
The Story of a Poem That Dramatically Changed the American Christmas Tradition

December 4, 2011

Nancy H. Marshall discusses Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and explores how a bedtime story written nearly 200 years ago has guided American Christmas traditions from the late 19th century through the present.

O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi"

December 5, 2010

The Museum invited Valerie Bennett, Curator of the O. Henry Museum in Austin, Texas, to present an illustrated lecture on O. Henry’s most famous work “The Gift of the Magi.” She discussed one of America’s most cherished holiday stories and the life of its author William Sidney Porter, better known as O. Henry.

An American Christmas: An Illustrated Lecture by Philip B. Kunhardt, III

December 6, 2009

The Museum invited author and documentary film producer Philip B. Kunhardt, III to discuss the evolution of American Christmas traditions from the 19th and early 20th century.