Lectures
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Wednesday, October 13, 2021, 7 to 8:30 p.m. *FREE*
New Hampshire Through the Lens of a Camera (Virtual Event)
Join a panel of photographers who participated in New Hampshire Now and learn more about their experiences capturing the Granite State—and Granite Staters. Did they find what they expected to find when they ventured out into the state? What surprised them? How did this experience impact the way these artists view New Hampshire? Register for this free virtual program through Eventbrite.com. This event is made possible by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities.
Saturday, October 16, 2021, 2 p.m.
Lecture: “More than Just a Pretty Picture,” by Project Director Gary Samson and Professor Inez McDermott
Gary Samson, New Hampshire’s seventh Artist Laureate, and art historian Inez McDermott explore how New Hampshire Now fits in with other documentary photography projects in American history, when photographers like Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, and Dorothea Lange captured images that both reflected and defined their eras. Samson and McDermott explore recurring themes that emerged during the project and delve into the myriad ways that a subject or event can be interpreted by different artists. This event is made possible by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities. Admission is $7 for adults and free for New Hampshire Historical Society members.
Saturday, October 30, 2021, 2 p.m.
Lecture and Book Signing: Chasing Eden, by Howard Mansfield
Join beloved New Hampshire author Howard Mansfield as he discusses his new book, Chasing Eden. Mansfield’s latest work is about seekers: Americans searching for their Eden, longing for a Promised Land, a utopia somewhere out on the horizon. With his usual deep perception, humor, and grace, Mansfield writes about “a small gathering of Americans” united by longing and devotion in their search for something perfect here on earth, a goal that is ever receding. Mansfield illuminates how this longing—for God, for freedom, for peace—can be found in every era, and gives form and force to our lives in our pursuit of happiness—“the primary occupation of every American.” Mansfield is the author of nine books about preservation, architecture, and history, most recently Summer Over Autumn (2017). He has contributed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, Historic Preservation, and Yankee. Chasing Eden will be available for purchase at the Society, and Mansfield will be signing copies. Admission is $7 for adults and free for New Hampshire Historical Society members.
Saturday, November 6, 2021, 2 p.m. *FREE*
Lecture: “Forced into Politics: Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Fugitive Slave Crisis,” by Geoffrey R. Kirsch
The long and storied Senate career of New Hampshire’s favorite political son came to an ignominious end with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. After Daniel Webster endorsed the notoriously harsh law as part of a broader compromise meant to forestall civil war, his constituents turned on him. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once admired Webster as “the conscience of the country,” accused him of having “no moral sentiment” and lamented that he had “betrayed the North to please the South.” Why did Webster support the Fugitive Slave Act as a means of preserving the Union, and why did it backfire? How does the explosion of antislavery sentiment after 1850 parallel the political polarization and social justice activism of 2020? And how, ultimately, should we assess Webster’s legacy at our own politically fraught moment? Scholar Geoffrey R. Kirsch, doctoral candidate in Harvard University’s Department of English, is a New Hampshire native, hailing from Concord and earning his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College. His writings on the intersections of legal and political history and American literature have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books and the New England Quarterly, among other publications. This program is part of Humanities To Go, a program of New Hampshire Humanities. It is free and open to the public.
Contact
Elizabeth Dubrulle
Director of Education & Public Programs
603-856-0604
edubrulle@nhhistory.org
Contact