Founding Friendships and the Making of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1855), America's Second Declaration of Independence

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

5:00-6:00 pm

On Zoom

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the creation of America's Declaration of Independence, Karen Karbiener presents the story of the first edition of Leaves of Grass: a revolutionary book that would not have been produced without the assistance of Whitman's friends and Brooklyn neighbors, the Rome brothers.  Descendants of the Rome family will share their multi-generational oral history of the friendship as well as their private collection of Whitman-Rome treasures.

Join Dr. Karen Karbiener, 2025-26 New York Historical Fellow, for an exciting conversation on Whitman's work and legacy, featuring Rome family descendants James Garrett, Linda Garrett, and Rebecca Garrett Granatini.