More Upcoming History Seminars

Last week I noted an upcoming session in the Boston Early American History Seminar. The Massachusetts Historical Society sponsors other seminar series that sometimes touch on the period and issues of the American Revolution.

On Thursday, 7 February, at 5:30 P.M. in the series on the History of Women and Gender Jennifer Morgan of New York University will present “Partus Sequitur Ventrem: Slave Law and the History of Women in Slavery.” Linda Heywood of Boston University will comment on the paper, and then the discussion will be open to all attendees.

This conversation will take place at the Schlesinger Library of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Cambridge (shown above, courtesy of renovation architects Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates). Morgan’s essay is circulated in advance to subscribers and will be available on paper at the meeting. Afterwards there will be a light buffet supper. To reserve a space, email the M.H.S. seminars office.

The Boston Environmental History Seminar will meet at the M.H.S. on Boylston Street on Tuesday, 12 February, at 5:15 P.M. Ben Cronin of the University of Michigan will share his paper “‘To clear the herring brook’: Fluvial Control, Common Rights, and Commercial Development in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 1660-1860.” William F. Hanna III, author of A History of Taunton, Massachusetts, will comment. This paper is described as follows:

By examining towns of Plymouth County, particularly Pembroke and Middleboro, this project shows how political, economic, and at times military power flowed from effective control of the waterways. The shift in what might be called “water regimes” was a crucial location of what Charles Sellers has called the Market Revolution.

Again, the society asks people to email the M.H.S. seminars office to reserve a space so they know how many are coming.

Finally, on Tuesday, 19 February, at 5:15 P.M., the Early American History Seminar has rescheduled a session with Daniel R. Mandell of Truman State University on his paper “Revolutionary Ideologies and Wartime Economic Regulation.” Brendan McConville of Boston University will comment, which should ensure a lively conversation. Again, email the M.H.S. seminars office to reserve a seat at the seminar and supper table.