January 29, 2025 Thomas Paine Online Birthdate Celebration

Thomas Paine’s birth was officially recorded in Thetford, Norfolk, England as January 29, 1737. While the Gregorian calendar we use today changes his birthdate to February 9, 1737, the Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA) is a “historical documentation purists” organization.

TPMA, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), Center for Inquiry/Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science (CFI/RDFR&S), Black Nonbelievers (BN), American Humanist Association (AHA), the Freethought Society (FS), and the Secular Coalition for America (SCA) are sponsoring a Zoom webinar celebration of the birth of Paine on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST.

Congressman Jamie Raskin will be the welcome speaker. Margaret Downey, president of TPMA, will also welcome everyone to the event and introduce the special guest speaker, artist Steve Simon (https://www.stevesimon.com).

Simon will talk about Paine’s life and accomplishments while the artwork he created and dedicated to honor the under-appreciated and oft-forgotten Founder is displayed.

Following the Simon presentation, an exceptional video about the Thomas Paine Hotel located in Paine’s birthplace will be shown. The director and owner of the hotel, Gez Chetal, will usher us through the hotel’s Paine-themed displays and educational exhibits.

After the two presentations audience members will be able to ask questions of the artist and Paine experts Gary Berton (president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Asso-ciation) and Frances Chiu (professor, TPMA board member, and author of The Routledge Guidebook on Paine’s Rights of Man). SCA’s communications manager Nnenna Onwukwe will host the Q and A portion of this event.
Representatives of the cosponsoring organizations will deliver unique and inspiring closing messages. They are Robyn Blumner (CFI/RDFR&S), Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker (FFRF), Fish Stark (AHA), Steven Emmert (SCA), Mandisa Thomas (BN), and Downey (FS).

Preregistration for this Zoom event is required. Below is the registration link:

https://americanhumanist-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lcN69pz4TaelpASw2fD_Lw