“Revere in Perspective” Symposium, 7-9 Oct.

This week the American Antiquarian Society is hosting a virtual symposium on Paul Revere, with events from Wednesday, 7 October, through Friday, 9 October.

Planned in conjunction with the traveling museum exhibit “Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere” and originally pictured as an in-person symposium earlier this year, these discussions are still organized through the society’s Center for Historic American Visual Culture.

“Revere in Perspective: Artisanry, Labor, and Luxury” will consider Revere’s versatile roles as an artisan, ranging from colonial silversmith to maker of propaganda prints to postwar manufacturer. Scholars will explore labor practices and the sourcing of raw materials that Revere used, from silver luxury goods to copper for the new nation’s naval vessels.

The symposium is free and open to all, but attendees must register for each session they wish to attend.

Wednesday, 7 October, 2:00-3:15 P.M.
Revere Beyond the Ride: Artisan and Manufacturer

• Nan Wolverton, Director of C.H.A.Vi.C., A.A.S., chair
• Robert Martello, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, Olin College of Engineering: “The Last Ride of Paul Revere: Entrepreneurial and Technical Innovation in Early America”
• Debra Schmidt Bach, Curator of Decorative Arts, New-York Historical Society: “‘Every friend to the manufacturers of the United States must be pleased with this information’: Paul Revere and the United States’ Early Copper Trade”

Thursday, 8 October, 2:00-3:15 P.M.
Global Perspectives: Luxury and Labor

• Rebecca M. Rosen, Hollins University, chair 
• Jennifer Anderson, Associate Professor of History, Stony Brook University (S.U.N.Y.): “Paul Revere and Sourcing Silver in Early America”
• Monica Dominguez Torres, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Delaware: “Traders and Cannibals: Imagining the Early American Pearl Trade”

Friday, 9 October, 2:00-3:15 P.M.
Local Perspectives: Prints and Production

• Lauren B. Hewes, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Graphic Arts, A.A.S., chair
• Theresa Fairbanks Harris, Senior Conservator for Works on Paper, Yale University Art Gallery: “The Evolution of Paul Revere’s Prints of the Bloody Massacre”
• Nancy Siegel, Professor of Art History & Culinary History, Towson University: “Monument Men: Paul Revere’s Obelisk and its Fiery Demise”

Friday, 9 October, 3:30-4:30 P.M.
Roundtable Discussion: Revere in the 21st Century

• Nina Zannieri, Executive Director, Paul Revere Memorial Association
• Robert Shimp, Research and Adult Programs Director, Paul Revere Memorial Association
• all symposium speakers

Register through this page.

(The picture of Revere above is from Robert Lawson’s Mr. Revere and I. Such stippling!)