This panel discussion considers the queer histories of two modern institutions: colleges and prisons. Marc Stein explores how activists at more than twenty colleges went to court in the 1970s to…

The chain of green spaces and waterways that comprise the Emerald Necklace park system is an invaluable urban oasis. Described as “the lungs of the city” this parkland and its rivers and ponds…

As the French abolitionist movement gathered momentum alongside the Revolution, Parisians could have seen hundreds of theatrical performances on themes related to race and slavery.  By…

Paul Szep, a two-time Pulitzer Prize and Thomas Nast Prize winning editorial cartoonist and New York Times best-selling author William Martin will discuss their careers. They will focus on Szep’s…

In 1745, a group of New England volunteers who called themselves Patriots launched an expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg, in present-day Nova Scotia. Who were these “Patriots”?…

The rise of the Religious Right has coincided with the privatization movement in public schools. While some may feel that this is coincidental, there is reason to believe there is a directly…

Thomas Nast defined American political cartoons in the decades following the Civil War. His illustrations popularized icons such as the Republican elephant, the Democratic donkey, and even the…

Crowd control technologies—turnstiles, bleachers, stanchions, and seats—channel bodies through the spaces of cultural performance: theater, music, and sport. The increasing rationalization and…

In the years before the Civil War, Boston was at the forefront of numerous American radical and reform movements. At the same time, the city was also a site of contestation over which reforms…

Daniel Chester French is America's best-known sculptor of public monuments, having created the statue for the Lincoln Memorial, the John Harvard statue, and The Minute Man in Concord. This new…

The American Revolution was waged not only on the battlefield, but in the realm of culture. American homes and the wartime violence within them—particularly directed against women—were prominent…

A key figure in American foreign policy for three decades, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts, a well-heeled Eastern Establishment Republican, put duty over partisanship to serve as advisor to…

Calling all graduate students and faculty! Please join us at our eleventh annual Graduate Student Reception for students in history, American Studies, and related fields. This year we invite you…

The Plimoth colonists were a diverse group of Separatists and Anglicans, English and Dutch, some religious and some not! They brought with them varied music experiences, and Plimoth Colony heard…

Political cartoons have long served to provoke public debate, illustrating opinions of the day for the masses. From early in the 19th century, arguments over voting rights—who votes and who counts…

Image courtesy of the Boston Red Sox

In this 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, join Boston Red Sox historian Gordon Edes and a panel of distinguished authors to discuss the role…

John Adams consumed a lot of Chinese tea. He especially appreciated the medical benefits associated with the hot beverage. In a 1757 diary entry, he wrote that "nothing but large potions of tea"…

Watergate was a sea change in American politics.  But even as a presidential scandal gripped the nation, there were remarkable displays of political courage, as Republicans and Democrats found…