By

It is a short week here at the Society as we approach the Veteran’s Day holiday. But there are still a few opportunities for quenching your thirst for history. Here is what is on the calendar for the week ahead:

– Tuesday, 7 November, 5:30PM : The next installment of the Early American History seminar series is with Craig Gallagher of Boston College, and is titled “British Caledonia: English America and the Scottish Darien Project, 1675-1702.” Beginning in 1695, Scots at home and abroad flocked to support their country’s nascent colony on the Darien isthmus in Panama. This paper argues that Scots’ enthusiasm for the Darien project stemmed not from national impulses, but from a desire to define their status in a liberal, Protestant British Atlantic World alongside their colonial American allies and patrons. Hannah Muller of Brandeis University will be on-hand to provide comment. Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required, just click the link or call 617-646-0579. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers. Please note that unlike other sessions in this series, this program begins at 5:30PM.

– Wednesday, 8 November, 12:00PM : Pack your lunch and stop by for a Brown Bag talk with Shira Lurie of the University of Virginia. “Politics at the Poles: Liberty Poles and the Popular Struggle for the New Republic” examines conflicts over liberty poles in the 1790s. Liberty poles offered grassroots partisans a tangible symbol through which to channel debates about political participation, popular sovereignty, and dissent under the new Constitution. This event is free and open to the public. 

– Wednesday, 8 November, 6:00PM : The Weeping Angel: Letters and Poems from World War I France is a new work edited by Mary Kelley, and the title of this author talk. Working as a soldier on the railroads in France during World War I, Hubert Williams Kelley found his vocation as a poet and writer through vivid letters to family. In this talk, Mary Kelley describes her efforts to retrace the forgotten history of a perceptive observer of the war’s destruction. Christopher Capozzola of MIT will be on-hand to comment on the letters’ contribution to new historical understandings that have emerged during the war’s centennial. This talk is open to the public, though registration is required with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Members and Fellows). A pre-talk reception kicks-off at 5:30PM, followed by the speaking program at 6:00PM. 

Please note that the Society is CLOSED on Friday and Saturday, 10-11 November, for Veteran’s Day. Normal hours resume on Monday, 13 November.