mr. swartz, thank you so much. let's give him a hand. [applause] >> i also want to recognize joel pickett, david, and the trustees and chairman's counsel for all the great work. let's give them a hand, as well. [applause] >> the program will last one hour. we will have a question and answer session. we are doing the questions on cards, it works better and everyone gets a chance to ask questions and we get a lot more questions covered. you should have received a pencil and card. if you have not, staff will go up and down the aisles with them and hand them to the moderator. there will be a formal book signing after the program, so please stay for the book signing. the books are for sale. we are so happy to welcome john steele gordon, the speaker closest to me. he specializes in business and financial history. he is contributing editor at philanthropy and wrote a column for american heritage from 1989 until 2007, or he also served as contributing editor. he has many books. his latest is "washington's monument." we are also thrilled to welco

mr. swartz, thank you so much. let's give him a great hand. [applause] >> i also want to recognize joel pickett, david's elastic, trustees with us, and all the chairman's counsel for all the great work and support. let's give them all a great hand, as well. [applause] >> so the program tonight will last an we will have a question hour. and answer session. we are doing the questions on cards. it works better, everyone gets a chance to ask questions, and we get a lot more questions covered. so you should have received a pencil and a card. if you have not, staff will go up and down the aisles with them , and then we will collect them and hand them to our moderator. there will be a formal book signing after the program, so please stay for the book signing. the books are for sale. in the museum store on the 77th street side. so we are so happy to welcome john steele gordon, the speaker to me, to the new york historical society. he is a writer and historian specializing in business and financial history. he is also a contributing editor at philanthr

mr. swartz has