MHS Calendar of Events - January 2021

JANUARY CALENDAR

2021

Our mission is to promote understanding of the history of Massachusetts and the nation by collecting and communicating materials and resources that foster historical knowledge.

LOCATION 1154 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02215 CONTACT Tel: 617.536.1608 Fax: 617.859.0074 VISITOR INFORMATION Our building is temporarily closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working remotely, we are offering an engaging selection of online programs, building a virtual community of scholars, delivering online resources to educators, providing access to our collection, and continuing to publish.

While the library is closed to the public, members of our Reader Services team are working remotely and available to assist you.

Please visit www.masshist.org/library/reference for more information about the resources available to all researchers.

SOCIAL AND WEB

@MHS1791 @MassachusettsHistoricalSociety

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Cover: Sarah Gooll Putnam diary, volume 2, page 97.

RSVP Information

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January Programs at a Glance

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January Program Descriptions

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Upcoming February Programs

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A Look Ahead: Winter-Spring Programs

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JANUARY PROGRAMS

This winter, the MHS offers an engaging roster of online special events, author talks, panel discussions, brown-bag lunches, and seminars. For a complete schedule, visit www.masshist.org/events.

Generous support provided by

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RSVP Information

Past Programs

Visit www.masshist.org/events for additional event information, updates, cancellations, and registration.

If you missed a program, would like to revisit the material presented, or are interested in viewing past programs, visit www.masshist.org/video. A selection of past programs is just a click away.

EVENTS, AUTHOR TALKS & SERIES For more information or to register for an online program, visit www.masshist.org/events.

WORKSHOPS Visit www.masshist.org/teaching-history for more information. Register online at www.masshist.org/events.

BROWN-BAG LUNCH PROGRAMS Brown-bags provide an informal opportunity for visiting researchers to discuss their work, field questions, and receive new ideas. Please visit www.masshist.org/events for more information or to register for an online brown-bag.

SEMINARS Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. After brief remarks from the author and an assigned commentator, the discussion is opened to the floor. There is a subscription fee for advance access to supporting materials. For more information, please visit www.masshist.org/research/seminars; register online at www.masshist.org/events.

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Become a Member The MHS welcomes Members from near and far to join its community of history lovers. Members enjoy invitations to Members-only events and free admission to select programs. Join today or give the gift of membership to the history enthusiast, amateur historian, or history professional in your life. Join at www.masshist.org/support.

All programs will take place online unless otherwise noted.

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WEDNESDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

“At Noon on the 20th Day of January”: Contested Elections in American History Joanne B. Freeman, Yale University; Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia; Rachel A. Shelden, Penn State University; Erik B. Alexander, Southern Illinois University Moderator: Ted Widmer

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MONDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Rescued from Oblivion: Historical Cultures in the Early United States Alea Henle in conversation with Peter Drummey, MHS

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

Environmental History Seminar Water Over the Dam: The Destruction of Colonial New England’s River Fisheries Zachary Bennett, Connecticut College Comment: Matthew McKenzie, University of Connecticut

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Settling the Good Land—Governance & Promotion in John Winthrop’s New England 1620–1650 Agnès Delahaye, University of Lyon

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar High Brow, Low Brow: Phrenology, Fashion & Female Activism in the 19th Century Rachel Walker, University of Hartford Comment: Sari Altschuler, Northeastern University

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THURSDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

African American History Seminar Revolutionary Weddings: Marriage in the Black Panther Party Traci Parker, University of Massachusetts—Amherst Comment: Robyn Spencer, CUNY—Lehman College

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

Digital History Projects Seminar Excavating Egyptology: The Emma B. Andrews Diary Project Sarah Ketchley, University of Washington Comment: Jennifer Stertzer, University of Virginia

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

The Province of Affliction: Illness and the Making of Early New England Ben Mutschler, Oregon State University, in conversation with Liz Covart, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

JANUARY PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

January

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Wednesday, January 6 | 5:30 pm

“At Noon on the 20th Day of January” Contested Elections in American History Join us online as Joanne B. Freeman, Yale University; Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia; Rachel A. Shelden, Penn State University; Erik B. Alexander, Southern Illinois University, and moderator Ted Widmer discuss moments in United States history when a peaceful transfer of power between presidents has been uncertain.

Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

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Image: “Congressional Pugilists,” political cartoon of Matthew Lyon fighting with a federalist opponent on the floor of Congress early in 1798

JANUARY

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WEDNESDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

“At Noon on the 20th Day of January”: Contested Elections in American History Joanne B. Freeman, Yale University; Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia; Rachel A. Shelden, Penn State University; Erik B. Alexander, Southern Illinois University Moderator: Ted Widmer The 2020 presidential election took place in a profoundly polarized nation with a fractious, unpredictable incumbent and provoked anxieties about a peaceful transfer of power. But such uncertainty has arisen before in this republic’s history. Join us as our panel of esteemed scholars discusses this year’s historic election and addresses questions to put it in context. At what other points has the peaceful transition of presidential power been uncertain? What role does the Constitution play in establishing the tradition of presidential transition? If bitterness and rancor are felt during presidential elections, at what point do they influence the course of the nation and threaten our democracy?

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

JANUARY

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MONDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Rescued from Oblivion: Historical Cultures in the Early United States Alea Henle in conversation with Peter Drummey, MHS In 1791, a group of elite Bostonian men established the first historical society in the nation. With in-depth research and an expansive scope, Alea Henle offers a vital account of the formation of historical culture and consciousness in the early United States, re-centering in the record groups long marginalized from national memory. These societies laid the groundwork for professional practices that are still embraced today: collection policies, distinctions between preservation of textual and non-textual artifacts, publication programs, historical rituals and commemorations, and more. At the same time, officers of these early societies faced challenges to their historical authority from communities interested in preserving a broader range of materials and documenting more inclusive histories, including fellow members, popular historians, white women, and peoples of color.

JANUARY PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Founded in 1791, the MHS is an invaluable resource for American history, life, and culture. Our extraordinary collections tell the story of America through millions of rare and unique documents, artifacts, and irreplaceable national treasures. All programs are virtual unless otherwise noted.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

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JANUARY

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

Environmental History Seminar Water Over the Dam: The Destruction of Colonial New England’s River Fisheries Zachary Bennett, Connecticut College Comment: Matthew McKenzie, University of Connecticut River restoration projects across North America are dismantling dams to restore the legendary fish runs of the past. People incorrectly point to the industrial revolution as the culprit. This paper will show that fish disappeared from most of southern New England’s rivers one hundred years before that. The destruction of New England’s fish runs triggered a cascade of economic and environmental changes that shaped legal and political culture during the Revolution and early republic.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

JANUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Settling the Good Land—Governance & Promotion in John Winthrop’s New England 1620–1650 Agnès Delahaye, University of Lyon Settling the Good Land is the first institutional history of the Massachusetts Bay Company, a cornerstone of early modern English colonization in North America. Agnès Delahaye analyzes the settlement as a form of colonial innovation, to reveal the political significance of early New England sources, above and beyond religion. John Winthrop was not just a Puritan, but a settler governor who wrote the history of the expansion of his company as a record of successful and enduring policy. Delahaye argues that settlement, as the action and the experience of appropriating the land, is key to understanding the role played by Winthrop’s writings in American historiography, before independence and in our times.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

The History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar High Brow, Low Brow: Phrenology, Fashion & Female Activism in the 19th Century Rachel Walker, University of Hartford Comment: Sari Altschuler, Northeastern University Between the 1830s and 1860s, Americans began fighting over a curious topic: female foreheads. While feminists and phrenologists saw “high brows” as an alluring sign of intelligence in women, gender conservatives viewed them as a troubling assault on patriarchal hierarchies. At first glance, the public battles over female foreheads might seem like frivolous exchanges over women’s appearances. In reality, they were not just political conflicts but also scientific debates about the capacities of the female brain.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

JANUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

African American History Seminar Revolutionary Weddings: Marriage in the Black Panther Party Traci Parker, University of Massachusetts—Amherst Comment: Robyn Spencer, CUNY—Lehman College Revolutionary love and marriages in the Black Panther Party were powerful aspects of Black Power politics. This paper argues that Panthers viewed Black romantic love as an act and a tool of revolution. They believed that if African Americans embraced love and marriage, defining it and its parameters in ways that best suited individuals and race, they could reclaim, reimagine, and build strong Black families and communities, destabilize white supremacy, and realize Black liberation.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

JANUARY PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

JANUARY

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JANUARY

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TUESDAY |

5:15 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

Digital History Projects Seminar Excavating Egyptology: The Emma B. Andrews Diary Project Sarah Ketchley, University of Washington Comment: Jennifer Stertzer, University of Virginia The Nile travel diaries of Mrs. Emma B. Andrews are an important yet underutilized resource for the “Golden Age” of Egyptian archaeology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This paper will discuss the evolution of the Emma B. Andrews Diary Project (est. 2011), and the project’s processes for transcription, encoding, analysis, and presentation in a digital format.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

JANUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

The Province of Affliction: Illness and the Making of Early New England Ben Mutschler, Oregon State University, in conversation with Liz Covart, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Afflictions of all sorts coursed through 18th-century New England—towns and cities set ablaze by epidemics, soldiers sickened and injured in the fight for empire, families and households laboring under an astonishing range of sufferings that were at once common and costly. This session will bring Ben Mutschler, author of The Province of Affliction: Illness and the Making of Early New England (Chicago, 2020), together with Liz Covart, host of the podcast Ben Franklin’s World, to discuss how the early modern world addressed issues at once strange and familiar to us all.

To reserve: This is an online program. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

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Tuesday, February 9 | 6:00 pm

Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize Ceremony Please join us for a special evening in which historian Kerri Greenidge, Tufts University, will receive the 2020 Gomes Prize for Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter. Greenidge will join Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University, in a conversation about Trotter’s pursuit of radical equality and Black self-determination, as well as the multilayered world of Black Boston that was not simply an abolitionist haven for former slaves but a segregated world with limited opportunity for even a Harvard-educated man like Trotter.

JANUARY PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Save the date!

Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

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Save these dates! Here is a look at a selection of February programs.

Learn more and register online at www.masshist.org/events.

FEBRUARY

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MONDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Driving While Black: African American Travel & the Road to Civil Rights Gretchen Sorin, SUNY Oneonta, in conversation with Catherine Allgor, MHS In Driving While Black, Gretchen Sorin reveals how the car—the ultimate symbol of independence and possibility—has always held particular importance for African Americans, allowing Black families to evade the many dangers presented by an entrenched racist society and to enjoy, in some measure, the freedom of the open road.

FEBRUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Higher Laws: Black & White Transcendentalists & the Fight Against Slavery Peter Wirzbicki, Princeton University In Fighting for the Higher Law, Peter Wirzbicki explores how important black abolitionists joined famous Transcendentalists to create a political philosophy that fired the radical struggle against American slavery.

FEBRUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

The Crooked Path to Abolition: Abraham Lincoln & the Antislavery Constitution James Oakes, the Graduate Center, CUNY, in conversation with Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law School The long and turning path to the abolition of American slavery has often been attributed to the equivocations and inconsistencies of antislavery leaders, including Lincoln himself. James Oakes’s history of Lincoln’s antislavery strategies reveals a striking consistency and commitment extending over many years.

All images shown above are from the Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

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THURSDAY |

6:00 | VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

Confronting Racial Injustice: Slavery, Wealth Creation & Intergenerational Wealth Nicole Maskiell, University of South Carolina; Elon Cook Lee, National Trust for Historic Preservation; moderated by Jared Hardesty, Western Washington University This panel discussion will explore the Commonwealth’s connections to slavery and the slave trade; the wealth—and the poverty—slavery created and bequeathed; and how the legacies of slavery are reflected in injustices that haunt Massachusetts to this day. This program is in partnership with Northeastern University Law School’s Criminal Justice Task Force.

FEBRUARY

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WEDNESDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion & Deportation in the United States Julia Rose Kraut In this comprehensive overview of the intersection of immigration law and the First Amendment, Julia Rose Kraut traces ideological exclusion and deportation in the United States from the Alien Friends Act of 1798 to the evolving policies of the Trump administration.

FEBRUARY

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THURSDAY |

5:30 | VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

FEBRUARY UPCOMING PROGRAMS

FEBRUARY

Protest & Citizenship—Revisited Stephen Kantrowitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Crystal Feimster, Yale University; Chad Williams, Brandeis University; Hasan Jeffries, Ohio State University Collective protest is a fundamental and enduring part of American life and culture.

This panel will revisit a conversation held at the MHS in 2018 that looked at the ways in which protest has been used to highlight injustice and change the citizenship rights of certain groups. In the wake of the high-profile demonstrations triggered by the murder of George Floyd, what can we take from the past to understand our current political and social climate?

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Take a look at our winter-spring slate of seminars. For more information, please visit www.masshist.org/research/seminars.

Register online at www.masshist.org/events.

FEBRUARY Tuesday, February 2, at 5:15 PM: Pauline Maier Early American History Seminar, Women of the Underground: Political Repression, Kinship Networks & the Transatlantic Resistance to Restoration Politics with Cynthia Van Zandt, University of New Hampshire, and comment by Adrian Weimer, Providence College.

Tuesday, February 16, at 5:!5 PM: The History of Women, Gender & Sexuality, Boston Women on Drugs with Trysh Travis, University of Florida, and comment by Elizabeth Lunbeck, Harvard University.

Tuesday, February 23, at 5:15 PM: Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar, A Portal to the Pacific Ocean: Puget Sound, the Transcontinental Railroads & Transpacific Trade, 1869–1914 with Sean Fraga, University of Southern California, and comment by David Armitage, Harvard University.

MARCH Tuesday, March 2, at 5:15 PM: Pauline Maier Early American History Seminar, Health, Disease & Early American Environments with Molly Nebiolo, Northeastern University; Camden Elliott, Harvard University; and comment by Thomas Wickman, Trinity College.

Thursday, March 4, at 5:15 PM: African American History Seminar, From Jobs & Freedom to Jobs & Opportunity: Andrew Young, Growth & the Illusion of Job Creation with Danielle Wiggins, California Institute of Technology, and comment by Brenna Greer, Wellesley College.

Tuesday, March 9, at 5:15 PM: Environmental History Seminar, Climate in Words & Numbers: How Early Americans Recorded Weather in Almanacs with Joyce Chaplin, Harvard University.

Tuesday, March 30, at 5:15 PM: Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar, The Parlor & the Public: Tin Pan Alley & the Birth of Manhattan Mass Culture with Samuel Backer, Johns Hopkins University, and comment by Jeffrey Melnick, University of Massachusetts—Boston.

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Thursday, April 1, at 5:15 PM: African American History Seminar, “Fighting the Dogs:” Fugitivity, Canine Hunters & Slave Resistance in the Rural South with Tyler Parry, University of Nevada—Las Vegas, and comment by Harriet Riveto, MIT. Tuesday, April 13, at 5:15 PM: Environmental History Series, Kaleidoscope Metropolis: Autonomy & Integration in the Fractured City with Garrett Nelson, Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center, and comment by Lizbeth Cohen, Harvard University.

Tuesday, April 20, at 5:15 PM: The History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar, Contesting Domesticity with Kwelina Thompson, Cornell University; Shoniqua Roach, Brandeis University; Laura Puaca, Christopher Newport University; and comment by Allison Horrocks, Lowell National Historical Park.

Tuesday, April 27, at 5:15 PM: Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar, The “Other” Illegals: Unauthorized European Immigration to New York City & Boston in the 20th Century with Danielle Battisti, University of Nebraska—Omaha; Carly Goodman, La Salle University; and comment by Christopher Capozzola.

A LOOK AHEAD WINTER-SPRING SEMINARS

APRIL

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Premiering Mon, 1/11 at 9pm GBH 2 and GBH Passport