Sunday, March 17, 2024
A presentation by Dot Brovarney
Dot’s book, Mendocino Refuge: Lake Leonard & Reeves Canyon, is a multifaceted story of the people, plants, and animals who inhabited the wild Reeves Canyon on California’s North Coast.
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Monthly Program: Mendocino Refuge: A World Apart and A Part of the World
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Monthly Program: Bringing History Alive From the Words of Those Who Were There
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Sunday, February 18, 2024
“Bringing History Alive From the Words of Those Who Were There“
A presentation by Judith Robinson
Author Judith Robinson tells stories from her historical and political biographies about the Hearst family,…
Monthly Program: Writing “Letters to Berlin: Writings of a German Jewish Refugee”
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Sunday, January 21, 2024 Monthly Program via Zoom.
“Letters to Berlin: Writings of a German Jewish Refugee“
A presentation by Peter Crane
October 31,
A presentation by Peter Crane
October 31,…
Monthly Program: Writing “Harry Bridges: Labor Radical, Labor Leader”
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Sunday, November 19, 2023 Monthly Program via Zoom.
“Writing Harry Bridges: Labor Radical, Labor Leader“
A presentation by Robert Cherny
The iconic leader of one of America’s most powerful unions,…
Monthly Program: Round Table on Historians’ Work
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Sunday, October 15, 2023, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“Round Table on Historians’ Work”
A Conversation with Rob Robbins and Oliver Pollak
How do historians work? How do they decide what to study,
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Monthly Program: How We Domesticated Fire, and Fire Domesticated Us
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Sunday, September 17, 2023, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“How We Domesticated Fire, and Fire Domesticated Us“
A Presentation by Jim Gasperini
Jim is nearing completion of his cultural history of fire,…
Monthly Program: First Ladies and Women’s Rights: Daughters of the Enlightenment
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Sunday, August 20, 2023, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“First Ladies and Women’s Rights: Daughters of the Enlightenment“
A Presentation by Elizabeth Thacker-Estrada and Patricia Southard
Ms.…
Monthly Program: A Brief History of the End of the World
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Sunday, June 18, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“A Brief History of the End of the World”
A Presentation by Dan Kohanski
Many religions expect the end of the world to happen eventually.
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Monthly Program: One Picture — Several Stories: The Petrograd Children’s Colony in Russia and America
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Sunday, May 21, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“One Picture — Several Stories: The Petrograd Children’s Colony in Russia and America.”
A Presentation by Maria Sakovich
The identification of a photograph found in a Sakovich family album has revealed over the course of 30 years a little-known and unusual,…
Monthly Program: “Designed for Large Explosions” – The Port Chicago explosion and the Manhattan Project
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Sunday, March 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
“Designed for Large Explosions” – The Port Chicago explosion and the Manhattan Project
A Presentation by Daisy Brown Herndon
Daisy Brown Herndon, a former school librarian,
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Monthly Program: Kissing Cousins: The Artistic Lives of San Francisco’s Albert M. Bender and Anne M. Bremer
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Sunday, March 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
Kissing Cousins: The Artistic Lives of San Francisco’s Albert M. Bender and Anne M. Bremer
A Presentation by Ann Harlow
When Anne M.
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Monthly Program: The Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of Paraplegic Vivian Edward’s Transcontinental Goat Cart Odyssey, 1907-10
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Sunday, February 19, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom
The Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of Paraplegic Vivian Edward’s Transcontinental Goat Cart Odyssey, 1907-10
A Presentation by Oliver B.
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Monthly Program: Mindful Surrealism: Practice-Based Research in San Francisco
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Sunday, January 15, 2022 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
Mindful Surrealism: Practice-Based Research in San Francisco
A Presentation by Nathan Foxton
A Presentation by Nathan Foxton
Surrealism is a cultural and art historical movement that evolved over the 20th century,
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Monthly Program: The Genocide in California’s Closet
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Sunday, December 18, 2022 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
The Genocide in California’s Closet
A Presentation by Robeert Aquinas McNally
Most Californians are unaware that in the second half of the 19th century their state sponsored and funded a campaign to exterminate its Indigenous peoples — a mass atrocity known under contemporary international law as genocide.
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Monthly Program: Eternal Flames: Excerpt from a work in progress
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Sunday, October 16, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom. View a video of this presentation here.
Eternal Flames: Excerpt from a work in progress
A Presentation by Jim Gasperini
Jim presented a chapter of his work in progress,
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Monthly Program: How to Create Your Own Legacy Book
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Sunday, September 18, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
How to Create Your Own Legacy Book
A Presentation by Margaretta Mitchell
Margaretta is both photographer and writer, who always brings research and history into her books.
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Public Program: Writing and Revising Narrative History
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Sunday, August 21, 2:00 pm, Public Program. view a video of this presentation here.
Writing and Revising Narrative History
A Presentation by Megan Kate Nelson
Join the Mechanics’ Institute and the Institute for Historical Study for this exciting talk about writing with historian Megan Kate Nelson who left academia in 2014 to become a full-time writer.
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Monthly Program: The Joy of Life: Impressionists and Post-impressionists in Russia
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Sunday, July 17, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
The Joy of Life:
Impressionists and Post-impressionists in Russia
A Presentation by Marina Oberatova
Russia has one of the world’s best collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. It rivals the holdings of French museums—especially when it comes to the masterpieces of Paul Gauguin,
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Monthly Program: General Vallejo’s Efforts to Establish a Mission in Santa Rosa
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Sunday, June 19, 2:00 pm, via Zoom.
A Presentation by Peter G. Meyerhof
In 1834, all of the 19 missions in Alta California were turned over to civil administrators who were to take over secular control from the mission priests and arrange distribution of assets including the land to the baptized Native Americans who had worked there.
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Monthly Program: Second Wave Feminism in a Post War Suburban Synagogue
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Sunday, May 15, 2:00 pm, via Zoom
A Presentation by Michael Several
Between 1968 and 1979, women at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center wrote and produced five musical comedies. These productions are an example of women forging a presence in an institution that barred them from equal participation in religious ritual and prevented them from fully participating in temple governance.
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Monthly Program: Why the Jews Won’t Accept Jesus, and Why This Is a Problem for Christians
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A video of this presentation can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
Saturday, April 16, 2022 10:00 am
From the start, Christians have made special efforts to convert Jews. With rare exception, however, Jews have never been interested. Focusing mainly on Christianity’s first few centuries,
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Monthly Program: Matera and the Sassi: From National Shame to International Fame
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Sunday, March 20 2022 A video of this presentation can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
A Talk by Marilyn L. Geary
Its troglodyte residents ravaged by poverty and disease, its rock-walled churches all but forgotten,…
Monthly Program: George Daniel de Monfreid: Post-Impressionist Trailblazer & Gauguin’s Best Friend
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Sunday, February 22, 2:00 pm
A Talk by Laure Latham
The French artist George Daniel de Monfreid (1856-1929) broke from mainstream impressionism early on, becoming a leading voice of the post-impressionist movement in his country.
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Monthly Program: Beyond Genealogy -Tips and Techniques for Researching and Presenting Family History Online
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Sunday, January 16, 2:00 pm.
A Talk by Jim Gasperini
The internet can bring life to a tree of boxes listing who begat whom. Jim will show how – using The Colburn Chronicles,
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Monthly Program: The Four Wars That Shaped George Orwell, From the “Great” One to the “Cold” One
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Sunday, December 19, 2:00 pm
A Talk by Peter Stansky
A Talk by Peter Stansky Peter Stansky will discuss how Orwell was shaped by his experiences of living through four wars: the First World War while he was growing up; the Spanish Civil War,
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Monthly Program: Exploring Indigenous California History
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Sunday, November 21, 2:00 pm
Ann Harlow presented
An informal talk for Native American Heritage Month about my recent adventures in developing a group and blog site on “Honoring Indigenous Peoples,” formulating a land acknowledgment, paying Shuumi land tax,
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Monthly Program: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy
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Posted in Institute Activities
Sunday, October 12, 7:00 pm
Jonathan Marshall presented
Bay Area author Jonathan Marshall offers an original take on an old subject, political corruption, and challenges the myth of a past golden age of American democracy.
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Monthly Program: Out of the Fog: The Surprising Origin Story of the Cable Cars
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Sunday, September 19, 2:00 pm
Taryn Edwards presented
San Francisco’s historic cable cars have reopened! Beloved by tourists and locals alike, the cable cars are integral to the development, character, and culture of San Francisco. Join Taryn Edwards for a peek into her research about the cable car’s surprising origins and an update on the life of Andrew Smith Hallidie,
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Monthly Program: George Templeton Strong, the Civil War Sanitary Commission, and the Women’s Movement
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Sunday, August 15, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program, via Zoom.
Christopher Webber presented
A Wall Street lawyer’s Civil War project to help preserve the Union inadvertently ended up empowering women and paving the way to health-care reform.
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Monthly Program: Solomon Schocken: Sonoma’s Preeminent Jewish Entrepreneur
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Sunday, July 18, 2:00 pm
Peter Meyerhof presented
Solomon Schocken (1842-1932) was a Jewish immigrant who rose quickly to considerable significance in Sonoma and beyond, through his own business ventures and as a mentor to several future entrepreneurs.
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The Social Crusader: Berkeley Mayor J. Stitt Wilson’s Lifelong Quest for a Just Society
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Thursday July 22 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM PDT
Author Stephen E. Barton introduced his new book, J. Stitt Wilson: Socialist, Christian, Mayor of Berkeley. Faced with the dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty that characterized Gilded Age America, Wilson (1868-1942) gave up a promising career in the ministry to advocate for “applied Christianity”—a democratic and socialist economy based on caring and cooperation that would embody Jesus’s message of love.
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Monthly Program: The Socialite and the Sea Captain – Louise Arner Boyd and Captain Bob Bartlett on the 1941 Arctic Voyage of the Effie M. Morrissey
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Sunday, June 20, 2:00 pm
David Hirzel presented
A talk by David Hirzel on the prickly relationship between the socialite and the sea captain on his famous schooner Effie M. Morrissey. When war threatened U.S. neutrality in 1940,
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Monthly Program: Richard Hurley, “Campaigns of the California Volunteers”
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Sunday, May 16, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program, via Zoom. Richard Hurley presented:
Campaigns of the California Volunteers
This multimedia show chronicles the adventures (and misadventures) of the nearly 17,000 young men who volunteered for the Union army during the Civil War. Moved by passionate patriotism,…
Monthly Program: David Goldberg, A Family History
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Sunday, April 18, 2:00 pm, Institute member David Goldberg on
A Family History
a photographic historical essay using the language of contemporary visual art
This essay sits at the space where family and history intersect.
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Monthly Program: a special webinar
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Sunday, March 21, 2:00 pm,
Beth Wright (daughter of longtime IHS member Georgia Wright) will provide practical information and guidance to help aspiring authors succeed with their self-published books. The webinar will include tips on how to find and work with the most suitable editors and other book publishing professionals;…
Institute Activities
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See what’s coming up for Institute members or the public on our What’s New page. Prospective members can inquire about coming once or twice as a visitor before joining. Public events are irregular.
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Monthly Program: Lost Department Stores of San Francisco
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Sunday, October 18, 2 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom. Anne Evers Hitz presented:
Lost Department Stores of San Francisco: Six Bygone Stores That Defined an Era
In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco’s merchant princes built grand stores for a booming city,
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Revealing San Francisco’s Hidden 19th-Century Black History: A Tour of California Historical Society Artifacts
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Saturday, September 26, 1:00 pm, Public Program via Zoom – pre-registration required
Part of San Francisco History Days, this event is co-sponsored by the California Historical Society and the California African American Museum.
Join Susan D. Anderson,
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Monthly Program: Black History in Marin County
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Sunday, September 20, Monthly Program: Black History in Marin County: From the Spaniards to the Great Migration
IHS member Marilyn Geary presented unique stories of Black individuals who made their marks amid the biases of a predominantly white society.
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Monthly Program: Exploring the Links between Tourism and War
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Sunday, July 26, 2 pm: Mills College history professor emeritus and 40-year Institute member Bert Gordon presented “Exploring the Links between Tourism and War, based on the research for Bert’s most recent book, War Tourism: Second World War France from Defeat and Occupation to the Creation of Heritage,
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Harlem of the West: The Fillmore Jazz Era and Redevelopment
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A lecture with Elizabeth Pepin Silva
Sunday, August 16 2020 at 2:00 PM
via Zoom
Ms. Silva is a documentary filmmaker, photographer, writer, and former day manager of the historic Fillmore Auditorium. She grew up all around the Bay Area
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The Coit Tower Murals: Visual Feast, Political Controversy, Decades of Neglect, and a Spectacular Restoration
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A lecture with Professor Emeritus Robert Cherny
Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 6:30 PM
Presidio Interfaith Chapel
The murals at Coit Tower were completed 85 years ago, in the early summer of 1934. They were, at the time, the largest art project funded by the New Deal, and they influenced other New Deal art across the country.
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Monthly Program – Museum Exhibit Talk and Tour
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Monthly Program for May: Exhibit Talk and Tour at the Richmond Museum of History
Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 2 pm
Richmond Museum of History, 400 Nevin Avenue, Richmond
Prof. Oliver B. Pollak will give a talk and a tour of the exhibit: Pioneers to the Present,
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South Asians in the South Bay
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Friday, September 28 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm: South Asians in the South Bay: The Privileged Immigrants – with Jeevan Zutshi
Offered in partnership with the Indo-American Community Federation and the Mechanics’ Institute, IACF founder Jeevan Zutshi will talk about the South Asian community that has developed in Fremont,
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Conversation on History Publishing
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Speaking June 17, 2018:
Malcolm Margolin headed Heyday Books from 1974 to 2015, and Jackie Pels has run Hardscratch Press since 1990. Join us on Sunday, June 17 (our usual Work-in-Progress time slot, the 3rd Sunday) at the Berkeley Central Public Library,
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Local History Excursion May 20: Niles Canyon
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Join the California and the West Group at Niles Canyon in Fremont on Sunday, May 20, for an entire day of history-laden activities organized by Rose Marie Cleese. “Tentative plans call for a late-morning half-hour ride on the historic Niles Canyon Railway from Fremont to Sunol (for a nominal fee),
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The Future of the Past in the Digital Age
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Posted in Institute Activities
This March! Two illuminating panels that explore the intersection of digital technology and history. Whether you’re a researcher, writer, history teacher, student, archivist, historian, or simply a history buff, you’ll discover how today’s technology tools are changing the study and accessibility of all things historical forever.
Panelists include:
- Chris Carlsson,
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Save the Date: Feb. 24
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Our annual membership meeting will be on Saturday, February 24 at the Mechanics’ Institute Library, San Francisco. Come hear what we’ve been up to, elect some new board members, have lunch, and hear a presentation by Monika Trobits, one of our mini-grant recipients.
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Holiday Greetings from the Institute!
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May you have a fun-filled or restful holiday season, whichever you prefer. We hope to see you in the New Year—see our Upcoming Events.
Prospective members, we hope you will join us in 2018. Existing members, please recruit someone new!
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Thank You!
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Jody Offer once again hosted our annual potluck at her house, and a good time was had by all! Many thanks to Jody and her husband Stuart, and to the fabulous chefs among our group. Eating and drinking together has always been a favorite activity of the Institute for Historical Study!
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Public Event: “Siberia and California”
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Siberia and California: Connections during the Russian Revolution and Civil War
Late in 1917 (25 October according to the Old Style calendar, 7 November according to the New Style), shortly after the US entered World War I and began sending troops to France on the side of the Allies,
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History Play Readers Invite Newcomers
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The history play readers will meet on Friday, October 27, at 1 pm at the San Francisco home of Nancy Zinn to read and discuss Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore. The title refers both to Alan Turing’s work as a mathematician and computer science pioneer,
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Fandango!
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The California and the West Study Group is sponsoring an event on September 30th open to the whole Institute membership. We will be attending a fandango in Martinez at the historic Martinez adobe, with a number of added inducements. The fandango, a traditional community dance, has been organized by a group that sings historic Californio songs and also plays for dancing,
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It’s Mini-Grant Time!
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The Institute Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Mini-Grant Program for 2017-18. The deadline for this year’s application is September 15. The Mini-Grant Committee will examine the applications and report its decisions to the Board, which will have the final say. Checks will be issued by October 15.
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Mother Lode Trip, Sept. 23–25, 2016
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Members of the Institute, along with members of the Italian-American Studies Association, had a fabulous history trip to the heart of California’s Gold Country the weekend of September 23–25, 2016.
Thank you to Rose Marie Cleese for organizing it! For a report on the weekend, see our Fall 2016 newsletter.
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History of Art Venues in Berkeley
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Ann Harlow and the California and the West Study Group invite Institute members and their guests to a day of local art and architecture history in Berkeley on Saturday, January 23, 2016. We will meet at 10 am at the Berkeley Historical Society, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center Street.
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It’s Mini-Grant Time!
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The Institute Board of Directors is pleased to announce the Mini-Grant Program for 2015-16. The deadline for this year’s application is September 15. The Mini-Grant Committee will examine the applications and report its decisions to the Board, which will have the final say. Checks will be issued by October 15.
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Annual Meeting New Member Presentations
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Excerpts from the report in the Spring 2015 Newsletter:
Sue Mote is working on a novel, “An Ordinary Viking,” the story of an adventure-seeking youth who really doesn’t like the shedding of blood. When researching the Viking age for a work of fiction,
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Report on San Francisco Main Library Tour
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Nine Institute members received an exclusive tour of the main San Francisco Public Library on January 31, 2015. Our guide, Susan Goldstein, has served as City Archivist since 1995. In her position, she works with all the city departments to preserve and make accessible their historical records.
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SFPL Tour 1/31/15
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Brought to you by the California and the West Study Group: Please join us for a special tour of the New Main Library on Saturday, January 31st, from 10:15 AM to 12 noon. The New Main (now almost 20 years old!) opened its doors on April 18,
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Public Program: World War I Films
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A series of major films about World War I begins in January and continues into May. Showings will be on Sunday afternoons, at the San Francisco Main Library on the dates indicated below. Each film will be introduced by an Institute member, and there will be time for discussion afterwards.
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Tags: film, World War I
Local History Field Trips for 2015
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Six members of the Institute whose specialties include California got together on November 8th at Jody Offer’s house to plan for a year of programs. Meeting were Jody, Ann Harlow, Joanne Lafler, Rose Marie Cleese, Peter Meyerhof, and Edith Piness. After some discussion, the group concluded that having a series of visits to historic sites had proven to be a winning formula for 2014 and that there was plenty of material for another year of such explorations.
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Report on Richmond Waterfront Field Trip
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On July 26 a dozen or so Institute members and friends visited aboard the SS Red Oak Victory ship moored in Richmond (an exhibition of the Richmond Museum of History). This Victory ship, built in 1944 at the Kaiser Shipyards, was one of ten built for the Navy.
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Report on Los Gatos Field Trip
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Institute members converged from the East Bay, South Bay, and San Francisco at the History Museum of Los Gatos on March 27th. Dawn Maxson gave us a leisurely tour, beginning with the story of the handsome stone building, part of a flour mill from the 1850s that hosted rock concerts in the early 1970s.
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Los Gatos Field Trip
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Posted in Institute Activities
The California and the West study group invites you to tour the exhibition at the History Museum of Los Gatos, American Bohemia: The Cats Estate in Los Gatos. The exhibition explores the storied lives of Charles Erskine Scott Wood and Sara Bard Field,
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History Expo
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For the first time, the Institute for Historical Study will have an information booth at the San Francisco History Expo at the Old Mint, presented by the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society on March 1 and 2, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
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Visit to Juana Briones Exhibition
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On January 25th about sixteen of us had the privilege of a preview tour of the new exhibition at the California Historical Society, San Francisco, guided by Executive Director Anthea Hartig with commentary by Institute member Jeanne Farr McDonnell. (More to come soon.)
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Report on Archives Program
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We had a good turnout at the San Francisco Main Public Library on October 10th for the program on “Treasures in Archives: Research Possibilities for Students, Teachers and Scholars.” All four speakers gave interesting presentations. Susan Goldstein spoke about the City Archives in the library’s San Francisco History Center. They have recently acquired huge amounts of records from city departments from the Police Department to the Redevelopment Agency to the Medical Examiner (coroner).
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Public Program on Archives, October 10
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Posted in Institute Activities
Where would historians be without archives? Come to the San Francisco Main Public Library and learn about some lesser-known archival treasures of San Francisco. Four archivists will highlight resources for local history and national history within a local setting: Chris Doan, Archivist for the Sisters of the Presentation; Susan Goldstein,
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Annual Potluck, September 7
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About 25 Institute members and guests gathered on Saturday, September 7th, at Margaretta Mitchell’s house on the Berkeley/Oakland border. Thank you, Gretta, for hosting us! After a sumptuous dinner we discussed possible uses for the Frank Brechka bequest. A task force was created to explore some of the options, to be chaired by Ellen Huppert.
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Trip to Green Gulch Farm Zen Center
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On August 15, a beautiful, sunny Thursday, fourteen Institute members and friends ventured to Marin County to the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center near Muir Beach. Jody Offer worked on arrangements, and David Chadwick, our long-time member, whose work on a website on Shunryu Suzuki he had summarized in a work-in-progress recently,
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World Map, Thomas Cavendish, 1707
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The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
…
Native American Encampment on Lake Huron, Paul Kane (1810-1871)
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The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
…
The Old Plantation, ca. 1790, attr. to John Rose
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The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
…
The Unicorn is Found
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Posted in Slideshow
The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
Read More
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Companions, Claude Raguet Hirst (1855-1942)
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Posted in Slideshow
The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
…
Golden Gate, San Francisco Bay, Fortunato Arriola (1827-1872)
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Posted in Slideshow
Posted in Slideshow
The Institute for Historical Study is a community of researchers, writers, and artists. Our common bond is a devotion to history in its many forms. Through wide-ranging programs, we share research, ideas, and practical advice and provide a public forum for the discussion of history.
…
Vallejo Outing April 13, 2013
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Posted in Institute Activities
Twelve Institute members had a history-filled day in Vallejo on April 13, with private viewings of two institutions: the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, where Executive Director Jim Kern gave us a tour before regular open hours, and the McCune Collection at the Vallejo Public Library. Highlights at the museum included artifacts from Mare Island (the first U.S.
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2012 Annual Dinner Lecture Report
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Posted in Institute Activities, Uncategorized
Posted in Institute Activities, Uncategorized
The Global Migrations of Ornamental Plants
Plants migrate across the globe by hitching rides on exported building materials, riding as seeds in the entrails of animals, stowing away in the luggage of plant-loving travelers, or simply floating on wind that sweeps across continents. Author-neurologist Judith M. Taylor not only traced the migratory movements of numerous plants but also introduced botany’s earliest explorers,
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Sunday, August 21, 2:00 pm, Public Program via Zoom.
Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer, with a BA from Harvard and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of four books: Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner 2022); The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner 2020; a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History); Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War (Georgia, 2012); and Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (Georgia, 2005). She writes about the Civil War, the U.S. West, and American culture for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and TIME. Before leaving academia to write full-time in 2014, she taught U.S. history and American Studies at Texas Tech University, Cal State Fullerton, Harvard, and Brown. She grew up in Colorado but now lives in Boston with her husband and two cats.
Writing and Revising Narrative History
A Presentation by Megan Kate Nelson
Join the Mechanics' Institute and the Institute for Historical Study for this exciting talk about writing with historian Megan Kate Nelson who left academia in 2014 to become a full-time writer. During this Zoom event, she will offer advice for writers who want to publish trade history books and other pieces for general readers. Dr. Nelson will talk about how to make the transition from academic to narrative history writing, how to revise manuscripts for trade publication, and how to pitch articles and Op-eds to newspapers and magazines.
Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer, with a BA from Harvard and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is the author of four books: Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner 2022); The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner 2020; a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History); Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War (Georgia, 2012); and Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (Georgia, 2005). She writes about the Civil War, the U.S. West, and American culture for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and TIME. Before leaving academia to write full-time in 2014, she taught U.S. history and American Studies at Texas Tech University, Cal State Fullerton, Harvard, and Brown. She grew up in Colorado but now lives in Boston with her husband and two cats.Sunday, April 21, 2:00 pm, Monthly Program via Zoom.
In her work in progress, A Torrid Splendor: Seeking Calabria, Cathy Robbins tells a story about a society's fall from grace. Once upon a time Calabria was a jewel in the diadem of Magna Graecia, which wrapped around the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas from Naples to Anatolia for nearly a millennium. Calabria has since slid inexorably to become today the poorest region of Italy. Cathy invites the reader to view Calabria from three perspectives: the region’s long and complex history; the history of her family in Calabria; and contemporary life in the region. The long history of Calabria established the groundwork—a base on which Calabria totters today, its arms flailing to catch a banister, a rope, other outstretched hands, anything to steady itself.
In her talk, Cathy will review the genesis for the book, its sources and development, and its status today. In perhaps an unusual twist for participants in this presentation, Cathy is asking for help. With close to half the book written, she is stuck, mostly in history. So, she has named this talk: A Torrid Splendor, Can this book be saved?
Cathy Robbins earned degrees from Columbia and from New York University. She has forty years of experience as a journalist, with articles published in a number of local, regional and national publications including Voice of San Diego; Albuquerque Journal; Santa Fe New Mexican; High Country News; and The New York Times. As a general assignment and interpretive reporter, Cathy covered a wide range of topics, including government, arts and music, and business. From three decades of living in New Mexico, Cathy developed her first book, All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos), published by Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press. The theme in that work resonates in her new book: How stable societies slide into disaster and can disappear.
“A Torrid Splendor . Can this book be saved?"
A presentation by Cathy Robbins
Calabria kicks Sicily into the Meditteranean (NASA)
Cathy Robbins earned degrees from Columbia and from New York University. She has forty years of experience as a journalist, with articles published in a number of local, regional and national publications including Voice of San Diego; Albuquerque Journal; Santa Fe New Mexican; High Country News; and The New York Times. As a general assignment and interpretive reporter, Cathy covered a wide range of topics, including government, arts and music, and business. From three decades of living in New Mexico, Cathy developed her first book, All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos), published by Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press. The theme in that work resonates in her new book: How stable societies slide into disaster and can disappear.
You are welcome to invite friends and colleagues to attend.
We need a volunteer to write a short report on the presentation for the newsletter. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the program coordinator (Dan Kohanski).
The presentation will be recorded, and the question-and-answer part will be posted on YouTube for IHS members only. If you don’t want to be on the recording, just make sure your video is off. And please remember to mute your microphone!