Barbara Silberman
Opium: The Business of Addiction
This presentation will look at the Forbes family’s involvement in opium smuggling and the China trade of the 1800s, the trade’s impact on US-Sino relations today and its lasting consequences in relation to the current opioid epidemic.
Barbara Silberman, MHA, works as an independent consultant for arts and culture organizations. She founded and directed the Heritage Philadelphia Program, making grants and providing technical assistance to over 300 historic house museums. She taught “Revitalizing Historic Houses” and “Fundraising and Philanthropy” at Tufts University. Silberman served as Board Chair for the Sargent House Museum, President of Historic Germantown, Chair of the Historic House Committee and Council member for the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH). She received regional and national recognition for her work on the Forbes House Museum exhibition, “Opium: The Business of Addiction.”
