Save the Date: Thursday, April 16
Seventy-two years ago, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed by the United States government on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. For decades, without full access to records, many historians, legal scholars, citizens, and especially the Rosenbergs’ children and family, have believed the trial to be a miscarriage of justice. In 2024, archival documents released through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request confirmed that “due to ill health, she [Ethel Rosenberg] did not engage in the work itself.” This revelation has supported the family’s belief that Ethel Rosenberg was not a spy, further suggesting that the case was more about persecuting dissent.
To coincide with the donation of these newly released NSA documents to the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center’s Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Collection, Boston University Libraries, in partnership with the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, the Boston University School of Law Library and the Rosenberg Fund for Children, invite you to explore how access to information and archival materials can shape–and reshape–our understanding of history. This day-long event will include a screening of the documentary Heir to an Execution with a discussion featuring the Rosenbergs' family members, filmmaker Ivy Meeropol and Robert and Michael Meeropol. Following the screening, a moderated panel with Cold War historian Clay Risen, best-selling biographer Anne Sebba and FOIA attorney J. Wells Dixon will explore how this significant archival donation shapes, challenges, or confirms public perceptions of the Rosenberg trial.
The event will take place on Thursday, April 16th from 12:30 to 6:30 pm at BU’s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446 in Room 104.
The event is free and open to the public; pre-registration is required (see event webpage) and space is limited. The event will also be live streamed; information about viewing the event remotely and additional program information is available on the registration website. Please direct questions to archives@bu.edu.