Events

Teacher Workshop, Public Program

Old Towns/New Country: The First Years of a New Nation


Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 8:30AM - 3:30PM
Registration required at a cost

What was it like to live in a town that had existed for years (if not a full century or more) before becoming part of a new nation after the Revolution? Designed for educators and local history enthusiasts, this workshop -- offered in conjunction with the Falmouth Museums on the Green -- will explore some of the social, cultural, economic, and political concerns expressed in New England towns like Falmouth as the United States was becoming a new nation in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries.  By turning an eye towards local politics and events we will rediscover the ways in which “ordinary people” contributed to America’s creation story.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

  • investigate what it was like to live in an old town in a new country and discover what changed for the inhabitants of Falmouth and Cape Cod as new government structures were implemented.
  • discuss the concerns (both local and national) expressed by Massachusetts residents while the American government was being created in the years after the revolution.
  • explore the ways in which geography, economy, and social/cultural practices influenced local concerns.
  • discover evidence of local concerns, and discussions of national policies, in primary sources held by the Falmouth Historical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society.
  • explore new ways of engaging students and local communities in their history.

There is a $25 charge to cover lunches both days; program and material costs have been generously funded by the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation. Educators can earn 14 PDPs and 1 Graduate Credit (for an additional fee) from Framingham State University.

To Register: Please complete this registration form and send it with your payment to: Kathleen Barker, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215.

Additional two-day workshops will be held in Pepperell, Massachusetts & Milford, New Hampshire, July 30-31; in Searsport, Maine, August 6-7; and in Framingham, Massachusetts, September 26-27.

Image: Fracis Wicks House, c. 1790. Falmouth Museum on the Green.

This event will take place in Falmouth, Massachusetts.