This talk looks at New England’s political elite and its conception of race, as shown through its view of the Haitian Revolution, and later the Republic of Haiti. The talk will discuss and complicate a common binary between abolitionism on the one side and hardening racist consensus on the other usually found in the literature.

The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

Petite guerre or partisan warfare was a critical component of eighteenth-century armed conflict. Historians of the American Revolution, however, have frequently understated and mischaracterized petite guerre as conducted in that war. This discussion will explain petite guerre within an eighteenth-century military context and explore how George Washington’s Continental Army learned to wage it.

This workshop will explore the long history of immigration policy in the United States and its legacy in politics today. Our discussions will cover the wave of Irish immigration to Boston in the mid 19th century, along with the parallel Know-Nothing anti-immigration movement, and debates over immigration restriction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well Progressive Era efforts to “Americanize” immigrants. This workshop will draw on items from the Society’s rich holdings to help put contemporary debates in context.

This workshop will run from 9:00 to 4:00 each day. This program is open to all who work with K-12 students. Teachers can earn 45 Professional Development Points or 2 graduate credits (for an additional fee).

The Civil War affected America’s farmers in profound ways and especially the horse, cattle, and dairy industries. Modern civilization’s reliance on the combustion engine has rendered fully comprehending of those changes increasingly difficult. This talk will provide an overview of the changing husbandry and care practices of America’s livestock industry from the 1850s through war’s end in 1865.

The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

Recent studies of Union veterans hold that northern civilians were eager to forget the Civil War, ignorant of the plight of the veteran, and inept in their few attempts to aid his adjustment. This talk challenges those assessments by focusing on the efforts of Frederick N. Knapp, Head of the Special Relief Department of the US Sanitary Commission. It outlines the unprecedented mechanisms he put in place to bring soldiers home and aid in their transition to civilian life. It also touches on the work of the Boston branch of the Sanitary Commission and the Boston Discharged Soldiers Home.

The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.

The institution of slavery in English North America began in 1619 with the arrival of roughly 20 Africans in the settlement of Jamestown. What has followed has been 400 years of exploitation and discrimination in many different forms. However, telling this story is not complete without an exploration of how African American communities have created culture and institutions that have survived despite these challenges. This program will explore both structures of exploitation and forms of resistance.

Please note: This program will held at the Museum of African American History, 46 Joy Street, Boston.

This program is part one of a four program series titled Legacies of 1619. The series is co-sponsored by the Museum of African American History and the Roxbury Community College.

Properties of Empire challenges assumptions about the relationship between Indigenous and imperial property creation in early America. Many colonists came to believe their prosperity depended on acknowledging Indigenous land rights and Wabanaki Indians’ unity allowed them to forcefully project their own interpretations of poorly remembered land deeds and treaties. The ongoing struggle to construct a commonly agreed-upon culture of landownership shaped diplomacy, imperial administration, and matters of colonial law in powerful ways, and its legacy remains with us today.

In his 20s, Benjamin Franklin resolved to perfect his character, devising a self-improvement method to aid him in the challenging task of becoming virtuous and intending to complete a book on its use. This method was eventually incorporated into the Jewish ethical tradition through the publication, in 1808, of Rabbi Mendel Lefin’s Book of Spiritual Accounting, which made it available to Hebrew-reading audiences. Shai Afsai discusses this surprising historical development, which has often confused Judaic scholars, and of which Franklin specialists have been largely oblivious.

Never “an uninterested Spectator” when it came to the American political landscape, Abigail Adams leveraged a wide network of correspondents to discuss her vision of the emerging nation.

The History and Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Tour is a 90-minute docent-led walk through our public rooms. The tour is free, open to the public, with no need for reservations. If you would like to bring a larger party (8 or more), please contact Curator of Art Anne Bentley at 617-646-0508 or abentley@masshist.org.