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After a nice long holiday weekend it’s time to put down the turkey legs and get back to the business of history. Here are the programs on-tap in the week ahead:
– Monday, 27 November, 6:00PM : Join us for an author talk with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Maria Tatar, both of Harvard University, as they discuss their new book, The Annotated African American Folktales. This new publication presents nearly 150 African American stories, among them familiar Brer Rabbit classics, but also stories like “The Talking Skull” and “Witches Who Ride,” as well as out-of-print tales from the 1890s’ Southern Workman. Arguing for the value of these stories as part of a sophisticated, complex, and heterogeneous cultural heritage, Gates and Tatar show how these stories deserve a place alongside the classic works of African American literature and American literature more broadly. This talk is open to the public. Registration is required with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Members or Fellows). The talk begins at 6:00PM and is preceded by a reception at 5:30PM.
– Tuesday, 28 November, 5:15PM : This week’s seminar is part of the Modern American Society and Culture series. “Volunteerism and Civil Society in the Twentieth Century” is a panel discussion with K. Ian Shin of Bates College, and Chris Staysniak of Boston College, with Timothy Neary of Salve Regina University providing comment. This panel considers volunteerism as sponsored by ethnic and service organizations. Both essays challenge our notions of “belonging” in a civil society, including our understandings of assimilation, activism, and protest. Shin’s paper is “Masons, Scouts, and Legionnaires: Voluntary Associations and the Making of Chinese American Civil Society, 1864-1945.” Staysniak’s essay is “Poverty Warriors, Service Learners, and a Nationwide Movement: Youth Volunteer Service, 1964-1973.” Seminars are free and open to the public. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers.
– Thursday, 30 November, 6:00PM : The second author talk of the week features Russell Shorto of the New York Times Magazine who will discuss his recent work Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom. With America’s founding principles being debated today as never before, Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. Drawing on new sources, he weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution. While some of the protagonists play major roles, others struggle no less valiantly. Through these lives we understand that the Revolution was, indeed, fought over the meaning of individual freedom. This talk is open to the public. Registration is required with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Members or Fellows). Pre-talk reception kicks-off at 5:30PM, followed by the speaking program at 6:00PM.
– Saturday, 2 December, 9:00AM : “The Political Lives of Historical Monuments and Memorials,” is a teacher workshop hosted by the MHS. This workshop is now full. Please join us on March 17, 2018, for another workshop on the topic of Monuments and Historical Memory.
There is no tour this Saturday, 2 December, but remember to come in and see the current exhibition, Yankees in the West, open to the public with no charge Monday-Saturday, 10:00AM-4:00PM.