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It is a fairly quiet week at the Society as we head toward a long holiday weekend. Here is what is happening in the coming days:

– Monday, 21 May, 6:00PM : We start things off with an author talk featuring Alan Hoffman who will discuss Lafayette In America. In 1824 and 1825 General Lafayette made a farewell tour of the United States. The 67-year-old hero was welcomed in an adoring frenzy. The visit to Boston of the sole surviving major general of the Continental Army was one of the largest celebrations the city had ever seen. A “Committee of Arrangements” was organized to rent and furnish an appropriate home and all of the furniture was purchased from Isaac Vose & Son. Hoffman will recount the general’s visit and discuss his translation of Lafayette’s private secretary’s journal.

This talk is open to the public, free of charge, though registration is required. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30PM followed by the speaking program at 6:00PM.

– Wednesday, 23 May, 12:00PM : “Are We Descended from Puritans or Pagans?: New England’s Critique of Manifest Destiny” is the title of a Brown Bag talk with current short-term research fellow Daniel Burge of the University of Alabama. This talk examines the religious critique of manifest destiny put forth by New Englanders from 1848-1871. Although manifest destiny is often portrayed as an ideology rooted in Puritan theology, this talk explores how opponents of expansion in New England used religion to castigate and separate themselves from this ideology.

Brown Bag talks are free and open to the public, so pack a lunch and stop on by!

Please note that the library is CLOSED on Saturday, 26 May, though the galleries remain OPEN, 10:00AM-4:00PM. Stop by and see our current exhibition The Furniture of Isaac Vose & Thomas Seymour, 1815-1825.

The Society is CLOSED on Monday, 28 May, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal hours resume on Tuesday, 29 May.