By Dan Hinchen
With a new month comes a long period with a lot of public programming here at the Society. Keep your eyes on our events calendar this week and in the weeks to come to see what we have on tap. Kicking things off this week on Tuesday, 4 February, is the next installment of our Early American History Seminar series. “Law and the American Revolution” is a panel discussion that considers the state of the field of scholarship on the American Revolution as it relates to legal history. This scholarship is poised to accelerate and move in innovative directions as the 250th anniversary of the Stamp Act approaches. Alan Rogers of Boston College moderates the discussion among Sarah Bilder, Boston College Law School; T.H. Breen, University of Vermont and Huntington Library; Bruce Mann of Harvard Law School; and Kent Newmeyer, University of Connecticut. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to received advance copies of the seminar papers. Discussion begins at 5:15PM
On Wednesday, 5 February, stop by at 12:00PM for “‘Dam all pumpkin states’: King Williams War in the North and Colonial Legitimacy.” In this Brown Bag talk, Kate Moore of Boston University shares information about her project to find out how Puritan divines and a German militia captain used war with the French to legitimate their authority to colonists, colonial leaders, and Native American allies. The project also seeks to explain how they justified strategy, finance, and diplomacy during this late-17th century colonial conflict. Brown Bag talks are free and open to the public.
Finally, on Thursday, 6 February, join us again at noon for “Boston’s Mayor James Michael Curley: The Quintessential Politician & Public Works Patron.” In honor of the 100th anniversary of the first election as Mayor of Boston of perhaps the most prolific politician in Massachusetts history, this talk will highlight the building of public works in Boston during Curley’s time in office. This talk is presented by Lawrence Overlan who has been researching, teaching, speaking, and writing about James Michael Curley for over a decade. This public program is free and open to the public.