Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America

The adoption of firearms by American Indians between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries marked a turning point in the history of North America’s indigenous peoples – a cultural earthquake so profound that its impact has yet to be adequately measured. This lecture, based upon the book Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America, explores how Native American’s embracing of firearms transformed their cultures and empowered them to pursue their interests and defend their political and economic autonomy for over two centuries.

Holding These Truths: A Panel Discussion about the Declaration of Independence

America’s foundational text famously declares: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But what did these concepts mean to the people living at the time they were first written? How have they been understood over the centuries since? And today, do we still see these as “self-evident truths?” If so, have we realized the full potential of their promise?

I Now Pronounce You Lucy Stone

Challenging discrimination is not easy; Lucy Stone was never one to take the easy road. The first woman from Massachusetts to earn a college degree, Lucy was an ardent supporter of human rights. Always fierce, her belief that women and men be equal was evident in both her political and personal endeavors. Her message inspired thousands to join the suffrage movement; even Susan B. Anthony credits Lucy’s impassioned speeches for her involvement. As a scholar, Lucy studied Greek and Hebrew, insisting that ancient scriptures had been mistranslated to objectify women.

Rethinking the Tablescape: Indigenous Origins of New England Cuisine

From pumpkin pies to johnnycakes, maple syrup, roast turkey, and cornmeal cakes, the history of “traditional” New England cuisine is rooted in Indigenous knowledge and traditional foodways. Join us for a cooking demonstration and discussion that will place Indigenous ways of knowing and tradition-keeping into conversation with AAS archival materials to examine the lasting impact of settler colonialism in the Eastern Woodlands region.