The Lowell Lecture series is generously sponsored by the Lowell Institute, established in 1836 with the specific mission of making great ideas accessible to all people, free of charge. During the series’ long history, speakers have included Charles Dickens, William James, Margaret Mead, William Makepeace Thackeray and, more recently, Salman Rushdie, Howard Zinn, Gore Vidal, and Dennis Lehane.