Sean Wilentz., photo by Sameer A. Khan

(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- The Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music (BSACAM) at Monmouth University presents the second annual President's Lecture on Music History and Contemporary America, to be held on Thursday, January 30, 2025 in the Pollak Theatre on the campus of Monmouth University. The event begins at 3:00pm.

The event, which is free and open to all, will feature acclaimed historian Sean Wilentz. Wilentz, George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, will present “‘I Don’t Write Protest Songs’: Bob Dylan, 1963.”  While the event is free and open to the public, advance registration is required. The Pollak Theatre is located at 400 Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

As Wilentz notes, “To this day, Bob Dylan’s early work gets tagged as political or topical or protest music, despite his own protests about it. He has always refused to be categorized as a protest singer or a political spokesman or anything else other than a songwriter and performer. ‘I don’t write protest songs,’ he declared to the audience at a Monday night hootenanny at Gerde’s Folk City in 1962. Yet that renunciation served as Dylan’s introduction to his first-ever public performance of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ a song that within months would become an anthem of the burgeoning civil rights movement. Although he spoke only for himself, the shifting politics of Dylan’s early output expressed a strong point of view that was essential to his emergence in Greenwich Village, perhaps the most rapid leap into genius of any artist in modern times. That development accelerated early in 1963, led to an extraordinary burst of creativity beginning in the middle of the year, and culminated in a landmark concert at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 26, the end of the beginning of Dylan’s long career.”

Wilentz’s lecture, drawing on rare and in some cases uncirculated recordings from the time, will assess the tension and energies behind this exceptional formative period in Dylan’s art. Copies of his book, “Bob Dylan in America,” will be available for purchase and signing after his talk.

Hosted by Monmouth University President and BSACAM Board of Directors Chair Dr. Patrick F. Leahy, this second installment in the annual lecture series comes on the heels of the release of the Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown.” In Leahy’s words, “I am so pleased to welcome Professor Wilentz as the featured speaker for our Second Annual Lecture on Music History and Contemporary America. As one of the leading voices in the study of U.S. political and social history, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, Professor Wilentz’s insights will undoubtedly enrich our understanding of Dylan’s influence on the connections between music, politics, and the social forces that have shaped our nation’s history.”

And as BSACAM Curator Melissa Ziobro notes, “We at the BSACAM are thrilled we can continue to bring nationally recognized scholars to our campus for the benefit of our students and the entire community, both on campus and beyond.”

The Bruce Springsteen Archives is comprised of nearly 48,000 items from 47 countries ranging from articles and oral histories to concert memorabilia, and promotional materials. The collection serves the research and informational needs of music fans, scholars, authors, and others with a serious interest in the life and career of Bruce Springsteen.

The Bruce Springsteen Archives serves as the archival repository for Bruce Springsteen’s written works, photographs, periodicals, and artifacts. The Center also preserves and promotes the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and his role in American music, while creating exhibits, public programs, and education initiatives that explore the works of American music giants like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Billie Holiday, Patti Smith, Frank Sinatra, Gaslight Anthem, and others.

In addition to its archival mission The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music creates traveling exhibits, educational conferences, public programs, teacher workshops, and scholastic field trips, all aimed at exploring the American music tradition and providing for academic discourse in various fields of American music.