Lafayette’s tour of the United States in 1824-5 resulted in the production of objects—ceramics, textiles, prints, among others—all emblazoned with his name and visage.  But like Lafayette himself, French impact on material culture dates to the American Revolution.  Join us as Ashli White examines the influence of various French things on political movements throughout the revolutionary Atlantic world and considers how diverse populations turned to these items as part of their attempts to realize liberty and equality.

Cultural shifts and updated curatorial standards have influenced current ideas about what is appropriate to discuss and display in museums and historical organizations. Increasingly, journalists, critics, scholars, and the public are approaching museum exhibitions with a more critical eye as to which stories organizations choose to interpret as well as those that are absent. Join us as MHS President Catherine Allgor moderates a conversation among representatives from Historic New England and the Peabody Essex Museum, about the curatorial decision-making process on how to tell difficult histories. Speakers will touch on debates about displaying controversial objects and speak to how their institutions use exhibitions as a tool to facilitate discussion. 

Standards of collecting and ideas about what was worth honoring have changed dramatically since the founding of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New-York Historical Society and the Smithsonian Institution. In the past, it was a mark of prestige that these repositories had collected material from wealthiest and most powerful individuals, communities, and businesses. While these collections retain relevance, scholars and the public today are increasingly approaching the material with a more critical eye, telling stories with more nuance, locating the silences in the archives, and looking to add collections that will tell stories from different perspectives so we can learn from the entirety and complexity of the American experience. Join a conversation among the leaders of three of the most highly respected historical organizations in America about the opportunities and challenges faced by institutions that are now looking to understand and bring forth lesser-known parts of their holdings, diversify their collections, and reinterpret their holdings to be more representative of the communities they serve.

Over the course of the eighteenth century, Anglo-Americans purchased an unprecedented number and array of goods. Prof. Jennifer Van Horn investigates these diverse artifacts—from portraits and city views to gravestones, dressing furniture, and prosthetic devices—to explore how elite American consumers assembled objects to form a new civil society on the margins of the British Empire. In this interdisciplinary transatlantic study, artifacts emerge as key players in the formation of Anglo-American communities and eventually of American citizenship. This presentation is the second annual lecture in honor of President Emeritus Dennis Fiori in recognition of his leadership. This lecture is made possible by gifts from friends of the Society.

Throughout history, garments have been handed down to be worn in different contexts or to be used as material to create something new. Our panel will talk about the history of reuse and refashioning as well as how designers today are using secondhand clothing or previously disposed of material in new ways. This panel will be the first in an annual lecture series in honor of President Emeritus Dennis Fiori in recognition of his leadership. The lecture series is made possible by gifts from friends of the Society.