ADULT EDUCATION: CLICK TO JOIN! Mondays | 10:30 am

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Monday, August 28 10:30 a.m./

DARWINISM IN AMERICA w/ LEN MOSKOFF

Charles Darwin’s book, Origin of Species, published in 1859 was a revolutionary way to view how life on earth came to be. Most Americans believed that life was created by a divine being and, once created, never adapted or changed. Darwin’s theory of evolution challenged creationism and provided evidence that life evolved from simple organisms over eons of time. In the 19th century thinkers in America and elsewhere, adapted biologic evolution and expanded it to include the social sciences, including economics, race, eugenics, and more. Darwinism was used to describe and justify a variety of activities that were accepted and/or discredited by the American people. The idea of Darwinism and its offshoots, are issues that divide the American spirit and mood to this day. This talk presents a brief look at biologic and social Darwinism including the roles that key individuals played.

Len Moskoff was born and raised in Philadelphia, attended public school and graduated from Northeast High School and then Penn State. He was drafted into the military in 1963 immediately after college and was selected to attend Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island.

He was commissioned as a line officer and then attended cryptography school. He was ordered to the USS Intrepid CVS-11 and assigned to the communications department. He also stood bridge watches. He served in Viet Nam and spent 26 years on active and inactive duty retiring as a commander in 1990.

His wife, Andi Elkins died in 2021 after 56 years of marriage. We have two sons, three grandsons and one granddaughter.

He went to night school in his late 40s to study accountancy and he passed the CPA examination when he was 51. He owned his own accounting practice and worked in both management and accounting until he retired when he was 67.

He is a past treasurer and president of the Upper Moreland Library Board of Trustees, past treasurer of the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia, he was an adjunct professor at BCCC, past treasurer, vice president and president of REAP (retired executives and professionals). He volunteers in various charitable, political and community programs.