ENDOWED L ECTURES Reflections on A Midwife’s Tale 2010 BARON L ECTURE
BY
L AUREL THATCHER U LRICH
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich delivered the Baron Lecture on October 21, 2010, reflecting on her groundbreaking book, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812, which was published in 1990. A Midwife’s Tale won the Pulitzer Prize for History and the Bancroft Prize, and quickly became a model for social history. Based on a single diary, the book focuses on a Maine midwife and offers a vivid examination of ordinary life in the early American republic, including the role of women in the household and local market economy, the nature of marriage, sexual relations, family life, aspects of medical practice, and the prevalence of crime and violence. A Midwife's Tale was also developed into a film that aired on the history series American Experience on PBS. Laurel Ulrich is the 300th Anniversary Professor at Harvard University, where she teaches in the history department. She recently completed her second term on the AAS Council, serving from 2004-10. The Baron Lecture, named in honor of Robert C. Baron, past AAS Council chairman and president of Fulcrum Publishing, asks distinguished AAS members who have written seminal works of history to reflect on one book and the impact it has had on scholarship and society in the years since its first appearance. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Random Notes from a Book History Bureaucrat 2010 WIGGINS LECTURE
BY
JOHN B. HENCH
John B. Hench, who retired as vice president of collections and programs at AAS in 2006, delivered the Wiggins Lecture on November 16, 2010. As one of the key figures in establishing the Society’s Program in the History of the Book in American Culture (PHBAC), it was particularly appropriate that he deliver the Wiggins Lecture, which is a centerpiece of that program. His lecture, “Random Notes from a Book History Bureaucrat,” combined recollections of his 33 years at AAS with thoughts on the development and influence of the Society’s program in the history of the book. PHBAC offers a range of academic programs in Worcester and at academic conferences around the country as well as a number of short-term fellowships and a popular week-long summer seminar.He also discussed several of the themes in his recently published book, Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II. This annual lecture honors James Russell Wiggins (1903-2000), who was chairman of the Society from 1970 to 1977 and editor of the Washington Post. Wiggins Lecturers Joshua Brown (2009), David S. Reynolds (2011), John B. Hench (2010), and Wayne Franklin (2007)
Igniting the War: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Antislavery Politics, and the Rise of Lincoln 2011 WIGGINS L ECTURE
BY
DAVID S. REYNOLDS
David S. Reynolds delivered the Wiggins Lecture on May 24, 2011, marking the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and the 200th anniversary of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s birth. His lecture, “Igniting the War: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Antislavery Politics, and the Rise of Lincoln,” explored the long-term influence of Stowe’s landmark novel. From the Civil War to American race relations, even influencing progressive movements abroad, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a far greater impact than any other work of imaginative literature. The book also inspired plays, music, films, and mass merchandise. In addition to many editions of the novel, AAS collections include Uncle Tom’s Cabin playbills, playing cards, and prints. David Reynolds is a professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
21