The building of the Erie Canal was the most audacious engineering project of the nineteenth century, a genuine act of faith. The canal also generated innovations whose impact reverberated through the nineteenth century. Jack Kelly, author of Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold & Murder On the Erie Canal, will talk about some of these important developments — a political party based on a murder, a reform movement that channeled the nation toward civil war, and brand-new religion with a distinctly American face. The 2024 Lecture Series is presented by the Sloan Fund.