During the week of Passover and Easter, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society will continue its series on the U.S. Constitution with a webinar on the history and significance of the First Amendment and religious freedom. Joining us for this important discussion will be Steven Waldman, the author of the national bestseller, “Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America.”

During this event, we’ll discuss religion (and persecution) in colonial America from the Pilgrims through the passage of the Bill of Rights; the faiths of the Founding Fathers and their belief in religious freedom; and the original meaning of the First Amendment’s “free exercise” clause that is still debated today.

Whether you are a person of faith, or not, this event will shed important light on how one of America’s most unique and important freedoms, continues to impact us today.

About the Speaker: Steven Waldman is the President and co-founder of Report for America, a national service program that places reporters into local newsrooms to report on under-covered communities and issues. The program now places 325 reporters into 220 local newsrooms.

He is the author of the national bestseller, Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty (Random House) and its sequel, Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody and Ongoing Fight for Religious Freedom (Harper Collins). Sacred Liberty won the Wilbur Award for Best Nonfiction Book on Religion and was finalist for Best Nonfiction Religion Book of 2019 from the Religion News Association.

Earlier, he co-founded and ran Beliefnet, a leading content website of the web 1.0 era. It became the largest religion and spirituality site and won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online.

He had previously worked as National Correspondent for Newsweek and National Editor for U.S. News & World Report. His writings have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Review, Christianity Today, The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, The Bulwark, The Washington Post, First Things, The Washington Monthly, Slate, The New Republic, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Religion News Service, Current, The Los Angeles Times and others.

He serves on the boards of the Interfaith Center of NY, Religion News Service, Washington Monthly, Columbia Spectator. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Amy Cunningham, a nationally-known funeral director.