Friends of Minute Man National Park

We’ve already had four excellent speakers in our Winter Lecture Series and this week we look forward to welcoming Professor Brian Donahue of Brandeis University.

Wednesday, February 10th at 8pm
Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street, Concord

Professor Brian Donahue presents
Battle Road Farms:  Connecting History and Sustainable Farming in Minute Man Park

Brian Donahue is an associate professor of American Environmental Studies on the Jack Meyerhoff Fund and among the core faculty in the Brandeis Environmental Studies program.

Donahue teaches courses on environmental issues, environmental history and sustainable farming and forestry. He holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the Brandeis program in the History of American Civilization. He co-founded and for 12 years directed Land’s Sake, a nonprofit community farm in Weston, Mass., and was director of education at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas.

Donahue is the author of “Reclaiming the Commons: Community Farms and Forests in a New England Town” (1999), which won the 2000 Book Prize from the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. His book “The Great Meadow: Farmers and the Land in Colonial Concord” (2004) won the 2004 Marsh Prize from the American Society for Environmental History, the 2005 Saloutos Prize from the Agricultural History Society and the 2004 Best Book Prize from the New England Historical Association.

His primary interest is the history and prospect of human engagement with the land.

To learn more about the lecture series, please visit our website.

The Center for 18th Century Life is a creative partnership between Minute Man National Historical Park and several 18th century living history organizations dedicated to the advancement of research-based living history.

What is the purpose?

In this unique partnership, the volunteer reenactors and park staff provide the creative drive, historical knowledge, and primary source research to plan and present living history events, and also the training and development necessary for creating and/or improving period impressions.

Meanwhile, the Park, with its many historic structures, landscapes, and interpretive expertise, serves as the forum for the sharing of knowledge and information relative to 18th Century New England, and an evocative venue for living history events. Our goal is to raise the standards of authenticity and interpretive value in living history programming here at the park and elsewhere in New England.

To learn more about the resources available, click here to visit the Center’s for 18th Century Life information page.

Join us tonight for our fourth lecture and learn about a pivotal moment in the American Revolution!

Wednesday, February 3rd at 8pm
Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street, Concord

Professor William M. Fowler, Jr presents
An American Crisis: The Newburgh Address

William M. Fowler, Jr. the former director of the Massachusetts Historical Society is Distinguished Professor of History at Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati George Washington Distinguished Professor. He is also the former Gay Hart Gaines Distinguished Fellow at Mount Vernon. Professor Fowler received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

He is the former editor of The New England Quarterly and the author of a number of books relating to American history including: William Ellery A Rhode Island Politico and Lord of Admiralty; Rebels Under Sail: The Navy in the Revolution; The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock; Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy 1783-1815; Silas Talbot : Captain of Old Ironsides ; Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War; Samuel Adams: Puritan Radical and Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle For North America, 1754-1763. He wrote the “Introduction” and “Epilogue” to Boston Looks Seaward and he is co-author of America and The Sea: A Maritime History of America. He is currently preparing a book focusing on the role of Washington during the last years of the Revolution.

At Northeastern Professor Fowler has taught courses in American History, Military History, the History of Boston, Maritime History and the History of New England. He has also taught at Mount Vernon, Mystic Seaport Museum and lectured at the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Naval War College, and the Sea Education Association. He is a trustee of the Rhode Island Historical Society, The Wayside Inn, The Ralph Waldo Emerson Association, The Leventhal Map Center, The Paul Revere Memorial Association, Boston By Foot, and the Old North Church Foundation. He is a member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the American Antiquarian Society, and an Honorary Member of the Boston Marine Society and the Society of the Cincinnati. He is an elected Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Pilgrim Society. He received an honorary degree from Northeastern University in 2000.

To learn more about the lecture series, please visit our website.

We’ve already had two excellent speakers in our Winter Lecture Series and next week we look forward to welcoming Dr. Richard Primack of Boston University.

Wednesday, January 27th at 8pm
Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street, Concord

Professor Richard Primack presents
Climate change comes to Thoreau’s world: Impacts of a warming world on the plants and birds of Concord and Massachusetts

Richard Primack, Professor of Biology at Boston University, along with his students and colleagues, has been studying the effects of a warming climate on the plants and birds of Concord, at the Arnold Arboretum, and other locations in Massachusetts. Using diaries of Henry David Thoreau and other naturalists as a starting point, he is able to show that many plants are now flowering earlier and birds are now arriving earlier than in the past. Professor Primack also investigates tropical rain forests in Malaysian Borneo and is the author of 2 widely used textbooks in Conservation Biology, which have been translated into 25 foreign editions.

To learn more about the lecture series, please visit our website.

Don’t miss tonight’s free lecture, 8pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street, Concord!

Lecture Two – TONIGHT!

Wednesday, January 20th at 8pm
Presented by Dr. Emily A. Murphy

“The War Has Made Such An Alteration in People & Things:
Privateering and the Revolution at Sea”

Emily A. Murphy is the Historian and Public Affairs Officer for Salem Maritime National Historic Site, and is a specialist in Early American visual arts and maritime history. She holds a BA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Annapolis; an MA in American Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University. Her dissertation, “To Keep Our Trading For Our Livelihood:” The Derby Family and Their Rise to Power, examines how mercantile families used material culture, social connections, and political participation to exert control in 18th-century Salem, Massachusetts.

Michael Goodwin to kick off winter lecture series

The Friends of Minute Man are please to announce the start of their Winter Lecture Series tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 81 Elm Street, Concord, MA. The upcoming eight lectures are free and open to the public and feature a diverse selection of topics, from climate change to Concord’s role in the Revolution. Tonight’s lecture will feature Concordian Michael Goodwin presenting “Bird Migration and the Sum of Human Knowledge.”

The Friends of Minute Man National Park is pleased the second lecture in our eight-session 2010 Winter Lecture Series in Concord. Taking place on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 p.m. at  the Trinity Episcopal Church at 81 Elm Street, Concord, Massachusetts, this lecture series will feature a diverse group of eight presenters.  The complete schedule and lecture brochure will be available the first week of January. Information will be posted to our website or you can request a printed brochure by sending your mailing address to info@friendsofminuteman.org. All lectures are free and open to the public.

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Lecture Two – Wednesday, January 20th at 8pm
Presented by Dr. Emily A. Murphy

“The War Has Made Such An Alteration in People & Things: Privateering and the Revolution at Sea”

Emily A. Murphy is the Historian and Public Affairs Officer for Salem Maritime National Historic Site, and is a specialist in Early American visual arts and maritime history. She holds a BA in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Annapolis; an MA in American Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Boston University. Her dissertation, “To Keep Our Trading For Our Livelihood:” The Derby Family and Their Rise to Power, examines how mercantile families used material culture, social connections, and political participation to exert control in 18th-century Salem, Massachusetts.

Before returning to graduate school, Dr. Murphy was the Curator of Photographs and Assistant Registrar of Special Collections at the Maryland State Archives, and a part time staff member at the Hammond-Harwood House, where she curated the exhibit Annapolis Masterpiece: 150 Years of Photography at the Hammond-Harwood House. She is the author of A Complete and Generous Education, a book on the history of St. John’s College, and her major publications for the National Park Service include the walking tour guide Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Salem, and Merchants, Clerks, Citizens, and Soldiers: A History of the Second Corps of Cadets. Her work on the military history of Salem earned her the Honorable Order of St. Barbara from the United States Field Artillery Association in 2008. In 2007, Dr. Murphy contributed research and wrote an interpretive film for the Samuel McIntire exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Yes, it’s  hard to believe but the annual Battle Road living history event at Minute Man National Historical Park is less than 4 months away. Scheduled as a two-day event on April 17 & 18, 2010 – it’s never too early to make sure you’ll be ready!

For the upcoming season, there are some new clothing restrictions and event changes and the Park has created a special webpage to share event news and resources that will be of use to participants in this year’s Battle Road event and other living history events at the Park. Check it out by clicking the link below:

Reenactor Resources

Have suggestions? Want to share your tips for getting ready for the season? Interested in organizing workshops? Post a comment and share your thoughts!

The Ladies of Refined Taste & Friends are pleased to announce their Fifth Annual Hive Clothing Workshop Season. The Hive will be held on one Sunday of each month from January to March from 1pm–4pm at Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord, MA. They’re thrilled about this year’s schedule and have tried to make sure there’s something for everyone.

This year, the first Hive on Sunday, Janaury 17th will be a mini-symposium at the MMNHP main visitor center in Lincoln (topic: “Why We Wear What We Wear”). The second Hive on February 14th and the third Hive on March 14th, at the Noah Brooks Tavern on Rte. 2A, will include sewing bees, clinics, and project series. Please check the Hive website for any changes in venue and/or any cancellations due to weather. As before, the Sunday Hive sessions are free of charge to reenactors and Park volunteers—please note some do require pre-registration and a few have a fee for materials—and there are also specialized fee-based Saturday sessions available.

DOWNLOAD the 2010 Hive Sunday Sessions Brochure (pdf)

For questions and more information on Hive workshops
contact Stephanie Smith at stephzsmith@gmail.com with your questions.

The Friends of Minute Man National Park is pleased to announce the return of the Winter Lecture Series to Concord this winter. Taking place on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 p.m. at  the Trinity Episcopal Church at 81 Elm Street, Concord, Massachusetts, this lecture series will feature a diverse group of eight presenters.  The complete schedule and lecture brochure will be available the first week of January. Information will be posted to our website or you can request a printed brochure by sending your mailing address to info@friendsofminuteman.org. All lectures are free and open to the public.

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Lecture One – Wednesday, January 13th at 8pm
Presented by Michael Goodwin

“Bird Migration and the Sum of Human Knowledge”

Michael Goodwin began his career in education as a teacher of English at the Groton School. Following Groton, he settled in Vermont, where he worked intensively with kids who had been kicked out of the public school system. His work with at-risk youths was interrupted for a short time when he took a position drafting environmental and energy policy for the 2004 Presidential Campaign. While in Vermont, Michael founded Friends of Dicisco, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities by highlighting relationships between people and the natural world. He currently serves as President of the organization.

Michael has also served as the academic director of the Great Books Summer Program, an enrichment opportunity for high school students held at Amherst College and Stanford University. He is currently in the midst of developing his own summer program – “Rivers and Revolutions” – a tuition-free interdisciplinary academic experience. The program, which will launch in the summer of 2010 here in Concord, is being offered to students along the commuter rail between Fitchburg and Boston.

Presently, Michael is a member of the Social Studies department at Concord-Carlisle High School, where he teaches US History and helps to advise the Environmental Field Studies Club. He lives in Concord with his wife Lindsay and daughter Willa.