MHS Calendar of Events - September and October 2022

FALL CALENDAR

The MHS offers an engaging roster of events, author talks, panel discussions, brown-bag lunches, and seminars. For a complete schedule and more information, visit www.masshist.org/events.

RSVP Information PAGE 4

Early Fall Programs at a Glance PAGE 5

Early Fall Program Descriptions

7

FALL PROGRAMS

Generous support provided by

Visitor Information

MHS galleries and library are open Monday, and Wednesday through Friday, from 10:00 am to 4:45 pm; Tuesday from 10:00 am to 7:45 pm; and Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm.

Please note that the last admission for exhibi tion visitors will be 45 minutes prior to closing. Learn more at www.masshist.org/visit.

Researchers are strongly encouraged to request an appointment. Visit www.masshist.org/library for more information.

RSVP Information

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

Hybrid programs and seminars occur in per son and virtually, so be sure to register how you will attend. Please note that events listed as “hybrid program” have a reception that begins thirty minutes prior to the program start time. Face masks are optional inside the building. Please visit www.masshist.org/ COVID-protocols to find the most up-to-date information.

EVENTS, AUTHOR TALKS, AND SERIES For more information or to register 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 precirculated 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 support ing materials. For more information, please visit www.masshist.org/research/seminars; register online at www.masshist.org/events.

Past Programs

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.

Above image: Sandwich Islands. Given to the MHS in 1804, this object may or may not be made from the bone of the famous Captain Cook. An “Indian,” which may have meant a person who is Kanaka Maoli or Native Hawaiian, gave this to Captain Derby, who gave it to Jacob Williams, who gave it to his father, Jacob Williams, who passed it to W. Emerson, who gave it to the MHS. In 1996, the material was tested by staff of the Kendall Whaling Museum and it is human bone, but there is no way to tell if it was from Captain Cook himself.

September

7 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Mosaic: Who Paid for the Bullet?

Michael Meltsner

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

8 THURSDAY | 6:00 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

MHS Film Club: A Civil Action

Johnathan Williams, Boston University

12 MONDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

A Union Like Ours: The Love Story of F. O. Matthiesssen & Russell Cheney

Scott Bane, John A. Hartford Foundation

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

16-17

FRIDAY SATURDAY | CONFERENCE

American Political Cultures Forum

New England Quarterly

Registration closes on 2 September. $50 per person fee to attend the Keynote and Dinner at the Somerset Club on 16 September. $30 per person fee to attend the Programs at the MHS on 17 Sep tember. Registration is free for graduate students.

20 TUESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Prophets & Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology

Sam Redman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

22 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Where Futures Converge: Kendall Square & the Making of a Global Innovation Hub

Robert Buderi

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

28 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution

Eric Jay Dolin

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

29 THURSDAY | 5:00 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

African American History Seminar

Environmental History Seminar

Carbon Boom: Barbados & the Plantationocene

Eric Herschthal, University of Utah October

3 MONDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia Robert Pierce Forbes in conversation with Catherine Allgor, MHS

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

6 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

A Tale of the Coolidges, The Algonquin Club of Boston & American Memory Ann Lucas, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

10 MONDAY | 10:00 4:00 | SPECIAL EVENT

MHS Participates in Opening Our Doors Tours at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM

11 TUESDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

Maier Early American History Seminar Revolutionary Colonialism & the French Atlantic: Albert Gallatin in Maine & the Western Country, 1780 -1786

Sean P. Harvey, Seton Hall University

12 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

MHS Film Club: Crip Camp Malia Lazu

18 TUESDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

Environmental History Seminar

From the Red Desert to the Red Planet: Military Engineers, the Mojave & Life on Mars

Gretchen Heefner, Northeastern University

EARLY FALL PROGRAMS AT A GLANCE

20 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life

Elizabeth D. Leonard in conversation with Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders.

25 TUESDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID EVENT

Research Projects at the MHS Sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars in Massachusetts

Aabid Allibhai, Harvard University; Daniel Bottino, Rutgers University; Christian Cuthbert, Crown College; Camden Elliot, Harvard University; and Can Mert Kökerer, University of Chicago

27 THURSDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar Gender, Sexuality, & Race in the 19th Century

Alexi Garrett, Saint Michael’s College, and Kathryn Angelica, University of Connecticut

28 FRIDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

The Revolutionary Samuel Adams Stacy Schiff in conversation with Sara Georgini, MHS

Free for MHS Members. $10 per person (in per son). No charge for virtual or EBT cardholders. $250 for exclusive VIP reception, 5:00 PM, with featured speaker Stacy Schiff. Space is extremely limited, advanced registration is required and includes admission to the program.

Casner & Edwards proudly supports the MHS in its mission to promote understanding of the history of Massachusetts and the nation.

Casner & Edwards, llp 303 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210 | 617.426.5900 casneredwards.com

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. Please check the website for up dates and, once registered, your e-mail before attending the program.

SEPTEMBER 7 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID EVENT

Mosaic: Who Paid for the Bullet?

Michael Meltsner

Mosaic brings to life the story of the 1960’s murder of a woman who was a doctor who courted danger trying to dismantle a racially segregated healthcare system in a large southern city. The search for who ordered the killing takes civil rights lawyer Christopher North to the centers of power, where a govern ment intervention goes wrong. It also forces North to confront the meaning of revenge she wasn’t just a client to him for a crime that occurs at the intersection of hate and greed. Michael Meltsner, a civil rights lawyer who brought the case that ultimately led to the push to integrate medical facilitates previously barred to Black patients and doctors, will discuss how his experience in this role inspired his recent true crime novel. This is a hybrid event. The inperson reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 8 THURSDAY | 6:00 | VIRTUAL EVENT

MHS Film Club: A Civil Action

Johnathan Williams, Boston University

Join Johnathan Williams as we discuss 1998’s A Civil Action, starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, James Gandolfini, and more. The movie tells the true story of a court case about envi ronmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. Watch the film at home and discuss your thoughts with us! A Civil Action is available through Amazon Prime, YouTube, DIRECTV, Redbox, Hoopla, and other streaming sites. This is a virtual event.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

A Union Like Ours: The Love Story of F. O. Matthiessen & Russell Cheney Scott Bane, John A. Hartford Foundation

After a chance meeting aboard the ocean liner Paris in 1924, Harvard University scholar and activist F. O. Matthiessen and artist Russell Cheney fell in love and remained inseparable un til Cheney’s death in 1945. Situating the couple’s private cor respondence alongside other sources, Scott Bane tells the re markable story of their relationship in the context of shifting social dynamics in the United States. From the vantage point of the present day, with marriage equality enacted into law, Bane provides a window into the realities faced by same-sex couples in the early twentieth century, as they maintained relationships in the face of overt discrimination and the absence of legal protections. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

American Political Cultures Forum

September 16 17

September 16, at 6:00 PM: Dinner and Keynote Address at Somerset Club, 42 Beacon Street, Boston MA, $50 per person.

September 17, from 9:00 AM 5:30 PM: Programs at the MHS, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, $30 per person.

Learn more and register at www.masshist.org/events. Registration at both events are free for graduate students, email ccloutier@masshist.org.

The New England Quarterly presents

14

| 2:00 | VIRTUAL EVENT

MHS Graduate Student Reception

Calling all graduate students and faculty! Please join us at our 13th annual Graduate Student Reception for students in history, American Studies, and related fields. This year we invite you to join a virtual gathering to learn about the resources the MHS offers to support your scholarship, from research fellowships to our seminar series.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 20 TUESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID EVENT

Prophets & Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology

Sam Redman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

In the late 19th century, anthropologists, linguists, archaeologists, and other chroniclers began amassing Indigenous cultural objects by the millions. Convinced that Indigenous peoples were doomed to disappear, collectors donated these objects to mu seums and universities that would preserve and exhibit them. Samuel Redman dives into the archive to understand what the collectors deemed the tra dition of the “vanishing Indian” and what we can learn from the complex legacy of salvage anthropology. The collecting practice became an engine of the American museum and significantly shaped public education and preservation, as well as popular ideas about Indigenous cultures. Redman interviews Indigenous artists and curators, who offer fresh perspectives on the history and impact of cultural salvage, pointing to new ideas on how we might contend with a challenging inheritance. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 22 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Where Futures Converge: Kendall Square & the Making of a Global Innovation Hub

Robert Buderi

Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been called “the most innovative square mile on the planet.” In Where FuturesConverge, Robert Buderi offers the first detailed account of the unique ecosystem that is Kendall Square, chronicling the endless cycles of change and reinvention that have driven its evolution. Before biotech and artificial intelligence, there was railroad car innovation, the first long-distance telephone call, the Polaroid camera, MIT’s once secret, now famous Rad

Lab, and much more. Buderi takes readers on a walking tour of the square and talks to dozens of innovators, entrepreneurs, urban planners, historians, and others. He considers Kendall Square’s limitations—it’s “gentrification gone rogue,” by one description, with little affordable housing, no pharmacy, and a scarce middle class and speculates about the next big innovative enterprises and outlines lessons for aspiring innovation districts. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 28 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution

Eric Jay Dolin

In Rebels at Sea, author Eric Jay Dolin posits that privateers were critical to the American victory in the Revolution: divert ing critical British resources to protect their shipping, playing a key role in bringing France into the war on the side of the Con tientals, providing much-needed supplies at home, rushing to fill the gaps of a young Continental Navy of about 60 ships, and bolstering the new nation’s confidence that it might actually defeat the most powerful military force in the world. Creating an entirely new pantheon of Revolutionary heroes, Dolin reclaims forgotten privateersmen such as Captain Jonathan Haraden and Offin Boardman, putting their sacrifices and exploits at the very center of the conflict. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

SEPTEMBER 29 THURSDAY | 5:00 | VIRTUAL SEMINAR

African American History Seminar and Environmental History Seminar

Carbon Boom: Barbados & the Plantationocene

Eric Herschthal, University of Utah

Nothing had quite the carbon impact of the Barbados sugar boom. Within a half century of the colony’s transition to sugar production in 1643, Barbados was almost entirely de forested. The average Barbadian sugar plantation emitted almost twice the amount of carbon as the average enslavement-based rice plantation, and ten times the amount of carbon as commercial wheat farms in colonial Pennsylvania, which relied on family labor. The Barbadian sugar plantation set the model for all other enslavement plantations in the New World and emerged from a confluence of innovations: ecological, financial, political, and racial. Though Barbados’s importance to the development of the plantation complex

is well known, this chapter argues for the colony’s importance to the emergence of an thropogenic climate change. It uses new plantation emission calculations to tell a human story about the emergence of a carbon-intensive economy rooted in racial capitalism. It is a working draft of a first chapter for a new book project on enslavement and the origins of climate change. This is an online event.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 3 MONDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Jefferson’s NotesontheStateofVirginia

Robert Pierce Forbes in conversation with Catherine Allgor, MHS

Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia has been called the most important book written in America before 1800. In the first publication to be based on both the 1785 first edition and the original manuscript, Robert Pierce Forbes’s book, Notes ontheStateofVirginia:AnAnnotatedEdition, uncovers Jeffer son’s extensive revisions, situating the work in the context of transatlantic debates over enslavement and shedding new light on Jefferson’s shocking disparagement of African Americans. This comprehensive annotated edition is a rich and valuable study of the work that catapulted the once littleknown former governor and diplomat to international fame. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.nts.

OCTOBER 6 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

A Tale of the Coolidges, The Algonquin Club of Boston & American Memory Ann Lucas, Thomas Jefferson Foundation

A distinguished portrait of Louis Arthur Coolidge hangs in the Founder’s Room at the Al gonquin Club now known as “The ‘Quin House” commemorating his term as club presi dent from 1923 1925. Arthur and his cousins; T. Jefferson Coolidge and Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, Jr., were part of a dynasty committed to maintaining their family’s legacy. The ar chitecture firm of McKim, Mead & White provided the backdrop which was the papers and drawings of the inspiration, Thomas Jefferson, and the Massachusetts Historical Society provided the repository for both the family’s and recently, the Algonquin Club’s histories. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 7:00 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

EARLY FALL PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

OCTOBER 10 MONDAY | 10:00 TO 4:00 | SPECIAL EVENT

Opening Our Doors

The MHS will join its neighboring cultural institutions for a day of free history, art, music, and cultural happenings in the Fen way neighborhood. Explore Our Favorite Things on display at the MHS. Join us for a walking tour of the Fenway neighbor hood starting at 11:00 AM and again at 2:00 PM. Tour partici pants will meet at the MHS building at 1154 Boylston Street, Boston. This is an in-person event.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 11 TUESDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

Maier Early American History Seminar

Revolutionary Colonialism & the French Atlantic: Albert Gallatin in Maine & the Western Country, 1780 1786

Sean P. Harvey, Seton Hall University

This paper examines the attempts of Albert Gallatin, a young immigrant from Geneva, to make a fortune in North America through connections to the French Atlantic. Drawn to Machias, Maine, by a Genevan family, Gallatin initially attempted to trade with settlers and Wabanakis hoping for a French return to the Dawnland. Later he partnered with a French immigrant in a large-scale land speculation and settlement scheme on the Ohio River in Western Virginia, hoping to entice refugees from France’s suppression of a 1782 revolution in Geneva and also to capitalize on the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Examination of these schemes highlights early efforts to link the United States and the French Atlantic, how Gallatin expected colonialism to generate wealth, and the Indigenous power that ul timately foiled each enterprise. Bringing these strands together, provides a fuller picture of experiences that molded Gallatin’s political economy before his rise as a Republican legislator, Treasury secretary, and diplomat.This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 4:30 PM.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 12 WEDNESDAY | 6:00 | VIRTUAL PROGRAM

MHS Film Club: Crip Camp Malia Lazu

Join disability history scholars and activists as we discuss 2020’s Crip Camp, featuring Larry Allison, Judith Heumann, James LeBrecht, and more. The documentary looks at how a summer camp in the 1970s galvanized a group of teens with disabilities to help build a movement, forging a new path to ward greater equality. Watch the film at home and discuss your thoughts with us! Crip Camp is available through Netflix and other streaming sites. This is a virtual event.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 18 TUESDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

Environmental History Seminar

From the Red Desert to the Red Planet: Military Engineers, the Mojave & Life on Mars

Gretchen Heefner, Northeastern University

Since the 1950s, the United States military and related agencies have used earth’s extreme environments to simulate outer space. This paper charts those efforts. Gretchen Heefner’s essay adds to recent calls for more robust dialogue between environmental and space histories. By placing the environment at the center of the story of U.S. military expansion, Heefner complicates our understanding of how U.S. power has been sustained around the world and, ultimately, in the heavens. Thisisahybridevent.Thein-personreceptionbegins at 4:30 PM.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

EARLY FALL PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

OCTOBER 20 THURSDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life Elizabeth D. Leonard in conversation with Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, MHS

Benjamin Franklin Butler was one of the most important and controversial military and political leaders of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Elizabeth D. Leonard chronicles Butler’s successful law career defending the rights of the Lowell Mill girls and other workers, his achievements as one of Abraham Lincoln’s premier civilian generals, and his role in developing wartime policy in support of fugitives from enslavement as the nation advanced toward emancipation. Leonard also highlights how Butler’s limited un derstanding of racism and the horrors of enslavement transformed over time, leading him into a postwar role as one of the nation’s foremost advocates for Black freedom and civil rights and as a notable opponent of white supremacy and neo-Confederate resur gence. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 25 TUESDAY | 5:00 | IN-PERSON EVENT

Research Projects at the MHS Sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars in Massachusetts

Aabid Allibhai, Harvard University; Daniel Bottino, Rutgers University; Christian Cuthbert, Crown College; Camden Elliot, Harvard University; and Can Mert Kökerer, University of Chicago

The Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has funded several short-term fellows at the MHS. This event will showcase the work being completed by the fellows. This is an in-person event. The reception begins at 4:30 PM.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 27 THURSDAY | 5:00 | HYBRID SEMINAR

History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar

Gender, Sexuality & Race in the 19th Century

Alexi Garrett, Saint Michael’s College and Kathryn Angelica, University of Connecticut

This panel explores how gender, sexuality, and race shaped the experience of two wom en in the 19th century. Alexi Garrett provides a microhistory that follows the life of Kate Flood McCall (1766 1828), a wealthy, single, and Enlightenment-educated white woman who lived and founded nail manufactories in Virginia. Despite having many suitors, McCall never married. Garrett explores this subject by contemplating the range of possibilities for McCall and other elite white women’s sexuality and their socio-economic power in the post-Revolutionary period. Kathryn Angelica’s essay investigates Rebecca Primus Thomas who established a freedmen’s school in Royal Oak, Maryland, in the late 19th century. Taking part in the resistance of the Reconstruction South, Thomas joined a net work of educational activists, reformers, and political thinkers. Her powerful narrative of Black women’s resistance allows us to reshape genealogies of women’s rights histo ries to include the influence of abolitionism, the Black church, and community activism. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 4:30 PM.

To reserve: Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

OCTOBER 28 FRIDAY | 6:00 | HYBRID PROGRAM

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams Stacy Schiff in conversation with Sara Georgini, MHS

Despite his celebrated status among America’s founding fathers as a revolutionary leader, Samuel Adams’s life and achieve ments have been largely overshadowed in history books. In The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, Stacy Schiff brings her master ful history research and storytelling skills to the life of Samuel Adams, examining his transformation from the listless, failing son of a wealthy family into the tireless, silver-tongued revolu tionary who rallied the likes of John Hancock and John Adams behind him. Gripping and revelatory, this book is a long-overdue chapter in the history of the American Revolution. This is a hybrid event. The in-person reception begins at 5:30 PM.

To reserve: FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or EBT cardholders. Please register at www.masshist.org/events.

To make this special evening even more memorable, register for our exclusive VIP reception at 5:00 PM, with featured speaker Stacy Schiff. Your $250 ticket includes admission to the program. Advance registration required and space is extremely limited.

EARLY FALL PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Our Favorite Things Objects that Fascinate, Interest & Inspire

Part two of this year-long exhibition explores the call of liberty and the complex nature of American freedom and unfreedom.

Visit in Person

Monday, and Wednesday through Friday, from 10:00 AM to 4:45 PM Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 7:45 PM Explore the virtual exhibition at www.masshist.org/ourfavoritethi