Lecture Series on “Massachusetts in the British Empire”

The Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury is hosting a special series of lectures on the theme of “Massachusetts in the British Empire.”

Massachusetts started as one of England’s first colonies in North America, but it was also settled by religious separatists with a troubled relationship to their home kingdom. For a while Boston was the largest and richest British settlement on the continent. Eventually, of course, the Bay Colonists rose up against the royal army and moved toward independence.

Prof. Robert J. Allison of Suffolk University will trace the complex story of Massachusetts and the Mother Country in a series of three talks:

• 19 May: “Massachusetts and the Beginnings of Empire,” introduced by British Consul General Dr. Phil Budden.
• 2 June: “Massachusetts and the Expanding Empire.”
• 9 June: “Massachusetts and the End of Empire in North America.”

All three talks are on Wednesdays starting at 5:00 P.M. Each will be followed by “a convivial reception featuring Anglo-American refreshments of the period.” Admission is $10, but free for members of the Shirley-Eustis House Association, and folks can buy memberships at the door.