We have a Brown-bag lunch program and an evening talk scheduled at the MHS this week. We hope you can join us!
On Wednesday, 22 May, at 12:00 PM: Samuel Hooper, Merchant & Politician with Ann Daly, Brown University. Samuel Hooper is best known as a politician and architect of Civil War era financial reforms like the greenback, but before arriving in Congress, Hooper made a fortune in the China trade. Using Hooper’s papers and published writings, this talk examines how Hooper’s work as a China trader shaped his understanding of the relationship between banking, trade, and democracy; and argues that his time as a merchant directly influenced his later work regulating of banking and currency markets. This is part of our brown-bag lunch program. Brown-bags are free and open to the public.
On Wednesday, 22 May, at 6:00 PM: American States of Nature: The Origins of Independence, 1761-1775 with Mark Somos. In the British colonies, the phrase “state of nature,” or the condition of human beings before or without political association, appeared thousands of times in juridical, theological, medical, political, economic, and other texts from 1630 to 1810. But by the 1760s, a distinctively American state-of-nature discourse started to emerge. In laws, resolutions, petitions, sermons, broadsides, pamphlets, letters, and diaries, the American states of nature came to justify independence at least as much as colonial formulations of liberty, property, and individual rights did. The founding generation transformed this flexible concept into a powerful theme that shapes their legacy to this day. No constitutional history of the Revolution can be written without it. A pre-talk reception begins at 5:30 PM; the speaking program begins at 6:00 PM. There is a $10 per person fee (no charge for MHS Fellows and Members or EBT cardholders).
“Can She Do It?”: Massachusetts Debates a Woman’s Right to Vote is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Featuring dynamic imagery from the collection of the MHS, the exhibition illustrates the passion on each side of the suffrage question. For over a century, Americans debated whether women should vote. The materials on display demonstrate the arguments made by suffragists and their opponents. While women at the polls may seem unremarkable today, these contentious campaigns formed the foundations for modern debates about gender and politics.
Please note that the MHS will be closed on Saturday, 25 May and Monday, 27 May. Take a look at our calendar page for information about upcoming programs.