Newport Talk Postponed Because of Government Shutdown

I’m postponing the next installment of The Saga of the Brazen Head to share this announcement from Newport and some thoughts about it.

The Newport Historical Society was planning to host a lecture this week on “‘I am an honest woman’: Female Revolutionary Resistance along the New England Seacoast” by Dr. Emily Murphy, curator for the National Park Service at Salem Maritime National Historical Site.

This talk focuses on the spinning bees that became popular in New England in the late 1760s and early 1770s and what they can tell us about women’s political activity:

This presentation will examine how middle-class women participated in resisting the importation of British Goods in the years leading up to the American Revolution.

In Colonial New England, lower class men and women could take to the streets and protest, men of the middling sort could participate in political action, yet women of the middling class were restricted by law and society. This didn’t stop these wealthier women, who became known as Daughters of Liberty, from showing their support for the Patriot cause. Along the New England seacoast, it became a popular springtime occurrence for ladies to participate in spinning bees where they would create homespun fabric and boycott purchasing fabrics imported from England.

Murphy earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University in 2008 and has worked for the National Park Service for nearly twenty years. She’s also participated in many living history events across New England; the photo above shows her carding wool. She’s a terrific researcher who loves sharing history with the public.

Unfortunately, because Emily is an N.P.S. employee, the federal government shutdown means that right now she can’t do her job, isn’t being paid, and can’t deliver this lecture in Newport.

What’s more, Emily’s husband, a ranger at Minute Man National Historical Park, is also on furlough and not being paid. They’re not the only couple I know in which both partners work for the Park Service. Thousands of N.P.S. employees chose to serve the public by preserving our historical and natural inheritance, and most are now locked out without salary payments.

Without rangers and other staff, large parks are being damaged with litter and human waste. Three park visitors died in late December. The only N.P.S. site with more than a skeleton security staff, the Associated Press reports, is the one in the Trump-operated hotel in Washington, D.C.:

The Trump administration appears to have gone out of its way to keep the attraction in the federally owned building that houses the Trump hotel open and staffed with National Park Service rangers, even as other federal agencies shut all but the most essential services.

Before the Secretary of the Interior left office under multiple ethics investigations, Congress appeared to be moving toward a budget with more money for the department to tackle “deferred maintenance” projects. Now the parks are instead suffering more damage, the department is bending the law to grab other money, and much of the federal budget is up in the air.

It’s easy to trace the source of this mess. Back in mid-December, Donald Trump said he’d be “proud” to preside over a government shutdown. Then the White House press office signaled that in fact he’d accept a bill funding all government agencies through the end of the budget year. The Senate unanimously passed such a bill. Then the President broke that commitment. Earlier this month, he repudiated his designated negotiator’s compromise offer, confirming that no one has any reason to trust him. We’re all paying the price for his deep flaws, with some of our national historical properties and the people who care for them suffering extra hard.

The Newport Historical Society has postponed Emily Murphy’s talk to Thursday, 24 January, at 5:30 P.M.—assuming, that is, that the government shutdown will be over by then. This event will take place at the Newport Historical Society Resource Center at 82 Touro Street. Admission is $1 for members and retired or active-duty military, $5 for others. Keep watch for further announcements.

[ADDENDUM on 22 January: With the Trump shutdown still dragging on, this talk has been canceled.]