In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Dr. Blake Grindon examines the 1777 death of Jane McCrea during the British Saratoga campaign and how this event became a powerful propaganda tool in the American Revolution. Dr. Grindon discusses how McCrea's story in which she was allegedly killed by Native warriors allied with the British spread rapidly through newspapers across the thirteen states and even reached parliamentary speeches in Britain and French newspapers. Dr. Grindon's work also examines the military and diplomatic roles of diverse Native nations during the Revolution, challenging narratives that overlook Indigenous political sovereignty and agency during this period.

Dr. Grindon is the recipient of a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium, which is administered by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Dr. Ross Nedervelt explores why Bermuda and the Bahamas held strategic significance for the United States during the Age of the American Revolution. He discusses how these islands were exempted from the Continental Congress's 1775 embargo on the British Empire due to their sympathy for the American cause and their supply of arms to the patriots. His research also examines the long-term consequences of these colonies remaining British including their role as fortified bases for impressment operations and as a planning ground for the British during the War of 1812.

Dr. Nedervelt is the recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society, a long-term fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the MHS, and a New England Regional Fellowship Consortium award.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-27-Nedervelt

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, independent scholar and author Monique Hayes discusses her historical fiction novel which follows two African American brothers who take opposing paths during the American Revolution. She shares the challenges of writing about a period with few first-person narratives from African Americans, the excitement of discovering primary sources like Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book and Continental Army orderly books, and how being in Boston during the 250th anniversary commemoration has enriched her understanding of Revolutionary War-era spaces.

Monique Hayes is the recipient of a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium, which is administered by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-26-Hayes

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, we sit down with Ethan Gonzales, a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia. Ethan discusses his dissertation project, which examines the "information ecosystem" of the 1790s and how the early federal government utilized diplomatic agents to gather and control information abroad. He explains how the United States, as a young republic in a world of monarchies, faced a barrage of state-sponsored disinformation and rumors.

Ethan Gonzales is a recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship from the Massachusetts Historical Society.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-25-Gonzales

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This episode features the first-ever live audience taping of the MHS podcast Historians & Their Histories. Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, from the MHS Research Department interviews special guests about their journeys to becoming historians. Betsy Klima, Professor of English at UMass Boston and recipient of the MHS NEH Long Term Fellowship, discusses her biographical research on Susanna Haswell Rowson, an 18th century best-selling author whose family experienced the Revolutionary period as loyalists, and her broader project examining women's power and literary influence in early America. Arthur Kamya, a PhD candidate at Boston University, shares his work on examining the Winthrop family's legal practices and discusses how the Massachusetts government was funded through licensing fees and other "sin taxes." Camden R. Elliott, an Assistant Professor of History at Auburn University, describes his environmental history of the Anglo-Wabanaki wars, analyzing how the non-human world shaped these conflicts from the 1670s through the 1760s. Madeline DeDe-Panken, PhD candidate at the Graduate Center at CUNY and recipient of the Mary B. Wright Environmental History Fellowship, discusses her dissertation on the history of foraging, particularly women's roles in late 19th and early 20th century mushroom foraging cultures and questions of whose knowledge was legitimized as scientific. The conversation explores their unexpected archival discoveries, what being a historian entails, and the challenges of doing historical work in current times.

Madeline DeDe-Panken is a recipient of a Mary B. Wright Environmental History Fellowship.

C.R. Elliott is a recipient of a Samuel Victor Constant Fellowship from the Society of Colonial Wars in Massachusetts and a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.

Arthur George Kimera Kamya is a recipient of a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.

Betsy Klima is a recipient of the long-term fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Massachusetts Historical Society. She also received an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship from the MHS.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-24-HATH-Live

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Dr. Eric Paul Totten discusses his research on the Federal Department of the South, focusing specifically on New England regiments that carried conservative, anti-abolitionist, and nativist beliefs into the Civil War. He shares how his work examines the "dark turn" of military occupation, moving beyond traditional narratives to investigate instances of bigotry, drunkenness, and the complex politics of emancipation. We also learn about what inspired him to become an historian, as well as his unexpected archival discoveries regarding treasury agent Albert G. Browne and General Alfred Howe Terry found in the collections of the MHS and its consortium partners.

Dr. Totten is the recipient of a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium and is the 1,000th Research Fellow sponsored by the MHS.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-23-Totten

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Alaina Scapicchio discusses her research into the public memory of the American witchcraft trials, focusing specifically on monuments, memorials, and other forms of commemoration. She shares how an unexpected archival discovery about a "ducking stool" connected to George Washington's grandfather expanded her research beyond Salem to the broader colonial landscape. We also learn about her deep dive into the 1885 Rebecca Nurse monument, her use of collections at the MHS, and her thoughts on why the physical connection to historical documents and artifacts is so powerful.

Alaina Scapicchio is the recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Short-Term Fellowship from the MHS.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-22-Scapicchio

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In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Prof. Donald F. Johnson discusses his research on the experience of the American Revolution in local communities throughout North America. His work examines how the revolutionary movement transformed from a fringe, urban effort in late 1774 into a massive, grassroots mobilization by 1775. Prof. Johnson highlights the crucial, often-overlooked role of local "Committees of Safety". He explains how these "middle managers" of the revolution, operating between the "rabble" and the elite leadership, established local authority and ultimately pushed the Continental Congress towards independence.

Prof. Johnson is a recipient of the long-term fellowship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Massachusetts Historical Society.

To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.

Learn more about this episode here: https://www.masshist.org/podcast/hath-episode-21-Johnson

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