A Surfeit of Historical Talks in Boston This Week

Liz Covart has taken to starting each week at her Uncommonplace Book blog with a list of historical events coming up in Boston. This week several caught my eye.

Wednesday, 11 September, 12:00 noon, at the Massachusetts Historical Society
A brown bag lunch seminar with Jill Bouchillon of the University of Sterling speaking about her research on “Friendship in Colonial New England, 1750-1775.” She argues that colonial New Englanders understood friendship differently from us, and hopes to support that argument by examining how people wrote about friendship in pre-Revolutionary newspapers, books, and magazines.

Wednesday, 11 September, 6:00 P.M., at the Boston Public Library
Victor T. Mastone, Director and Archaeologist of the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, discusses the “Battle of Chelsea Creek,” the latter-day name for the skirmish on Noddle’s Island and the Chelsea shore on 27-28 May 1775. The shoreline and topography of the area have changed greatly, but archeologists are using geographic information system (G.I.S.) analysis to better understand the fight.

Thursday, 12 September, 5:30 P.M., at the Boston Public Library
Stephen Hornsby discusses his new book Surveyors of Empire: Samuel Holland, J.F.W. Des Barres, and the Making of the Atlantic Neptune. This talk is no doubt in conjunction with the Norman B. Leventhal Center’s exhibit of maps and engraved plates from that monumental British atlas; the library recently shifted to the second half of that exhibit, with new items on display.

Thursday, September 12, 5:30 P.M., at the Massachusetts Historical Society
Prof. Bernard Bailyn, whose books have won both the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes, speaks on the theme “History Matters: Reflections on Efforts to Make It Come out Right.” All the preceding events are free; this one costs $10 for people who aren’t members of the M.H.S. and reservations even for people who are. Call 617-646-0560 or register online.