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Are you looking for some history-themed events to help pass your week as we head into May? Well then, you’re in luck! Here are some programs coming in the week ahead here at the MHS:

– Tuesday, 1 May, 5:15PM : First up this week is a seminar from the Early American History series. Join us as Matthew Kruer of the University of Chicago presents “The Time of Anarachy: the Susquehannock Scattering and the Crisis of English Colonialism, 1675-1685,” which is part of a larger book project. This paper argues that the seemingly distinct conflicts across the English colonies in the 1670s were actually connected by the political initiatives of the scattered Susquehannock Indians. The dispersion of the Susquehannocks caused instability in surrounding Native American and colonial societies, drawing them into a spiral of violence interrupted only by Susquehannock success, which brought stability to the northeast and shattered the southeast. Linford Fisher of Brown University is on-hand to provide comment.

Seminars are free and open to the public; RSVP required. Subscribe to receive advance copies of the seminar papers. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.

– Wednesday, 2 May, 12:00PM : The Brown Bag talk this week centers on some 20th century topics. David Shorten of Boston University presents “Neutrality and Anti-Imperialism: A New Synthesis for the 1920s.” After the war, a movement comprised of scholars, journalists, peace activists, and “anti-monopolist” US Senators worked together to articulate a new conception of US neutrality. Unlike the more widely discussed international war outlawry movement, this national movement focused narrowly on one radical conclusion: that protection of capitalist interests had motivated World War I, and thus, that the US government must permanently disavow the right to protect those interests in order to prevent war’s future recurrence.

Brown Bag lunch talks are open to the public, free of charge.

– Wednesday, 2 May, 6:00PM : The final event in the This Land is Your Land Series is “The Future of Our Land.” The Boston metropolitan area is in the enviable spot of having more people who want to live and work here than there is space for. Real estate regularly sells for prices that would have seemed inconceivable twenty five years ago. This situation puts more funds in municipal coffers, but what will this increased demand and density do to plans to preserve open space? How will climate change impact our priorities for preserving open space and how might it limit our options? Join us for this panel discussion with Kathy Abbott, Boston Harbor Now; Austin Blackmon, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space for the City of Boston; Madhu C. Dutta-Koehler, City Planning and Urban Affairs, Boston University.

This program is open to the public, registration required with a fee of $10 (no charge for MHS Fellows and Members or EBT cardholders). Pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM, followed by the speaking program at 6:00PM.

Please note that the library is CLOSED on Saturday, 5 May, to make room for a special teacher workshop. See below for details.

– Saturday, 5 May, 9:00AM : Known as the “master of the art of narrative history,” David McCullough is the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. In a special teacher workshop, “History and the American Spirit,” he will join us to discuss his perspective on history, education, and American legacy. This workshop is FULL and registration has closed. Please contact Kate Melchior at kmelchior@masshist.org or 617-646-0588 with any questions.