Civilized gathering place

Hadrian, that most civilized and Greek-loving of Roman emperors, founded the Athenaeum in the second century A.D.  The Athenaeum was a school devoted to literary and scientific studies, and to the sharing of educated views. It was located in the middle of what is now the Piazza Venezia in Rome.

The term has since been used repeatedly, not only for various cultural institutions, but for men's clubs (notably that in London), and even for hotels. 

Not to be out-shone, Seattle has sported its own Athenaeum since January 2016.  The Seattle Athenaeum is primarily a subscription library (a modest $125 per year), located in the downtown YMCA building.  I confess that I was unaware of its existence until my friend Pat suggested that we attend a noon presentation yesterday by local author Robert Berry, discussing the presidency of William McKinley.

We discovered the entrance to the institution through a small, discreet side door in the large Y building.  Within, we discovered rooms with books, rooms for sitting quietly and reading, rooms for lectures, and rooms for study.  The books are primarily donations from members' private libraries.  As non-members, Pat and I paid ten dollars apiece for admission to the lecture, an experience that was well worth the price.

Rather than sitting in a large (or small) auditorium, we were ushered into what resembled a university seminar room -- chairs and tables in a circle, with additional chairs against the wall.  Some 25 or 30 people showed up, enough to fill the room.  Professor Merry was introduced by the personable David Brewster, the founder and editor of the Seattle Weekly, the founder of Seattle's Town Hall, and the founder of the Athenaeum itself.  Mr. Brewster gets around, and is clearly a Seattle asset.

Mr. Merry -- both a scholar and a conservative journalist -- gave an interesting presentation of his basic thesis from his best-selling book (published this year) about McKinley.  (He thinks McKinley has been underrated.)  He was then joined by Tom Cronin, a professor at Colorado College and former president of Whitman College, who discussed McKinley from a liberal point of view.  Both speakers were often in substantial agreement, but Cronin felt that McKinley failed to attain the top rank of American presidents because of his lack of interest in promoting racial and economic equality.

My interest was less in the speakers' competing arguments than in observing their personalities and the courtesy and mutual respect with which they disagreed with each other.  Not surprisingly, both speakers, liberal and conservative, find the Trump presidency both distressing and frightening.

It's nice to know that small groups of intelligent people have forums, like the Athenaeum, in which to gather, hear and discuss matters of interest, and meet each other informally over lunches they've brought with them.  The experience reminded me of happy experiences from my youth -- as well as experiences from Hadrian's time -- and offered some hope that the Trump years will not forever define American life and civilization.

This, too, will pass.