Free to Be…You and Me at 50: Music, Messages, and Memories
February 27, 2025 at 7 – 8 pm
Online
In the early 1970s, Marlo Thomas and fellow collaborators brought the struggle for gender equality into playrooms and classrooms across America. Free to Be…You and Me challenged stereotypes and encouraged freedom of expression through catchy songs such as “William’s Doll,” “Parents Are People,” and “It’s Alright to Cry.” This online program will feature entertaining audio & video clips, brief historical commentary, and an informal discussion led by cultural historian Lori Rotskoff. Join us for a retrospective look at the creation, popular reception, and ongoing legacy of the legendary children’s album, book, and TV special—while sharing your own memories, thoughts, and questions with other participants.
Who You’ll Meet
Lori Rotskoff
Lori Rotskoff is a cultural historian, writer, and educator. For over two decades, she has taught classes for lifelong learners at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the 92NY, Scarsdale Adult School, and elsewhere. She is co-editor of When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made (2012) and author of Love on the Rocks: Men, Women, and Alcohol in Post-World War II America (2002). Her articles and book reviews have appeared in many publications including the Women’s Review of Books and the Journal of American History. She serves on the Board of Directors of LEAP, a non-profit that provides arts education programs for underserved NYC public school students; and the Jewish Women’s Archive, a digital resource for oral histories, public programs, and activism.
Current Exhibition
November 16, 2024 – April 6, 2025
“There’s a land that I see where the children are free.”