Historians & Their Histories

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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Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

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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Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

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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Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

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

This episode uses materials from:

Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Professor Thomas Lecaque tells us about his current book project on holy war rhetoric in colonial America. He shows how the language and ideology of medieval crusades thrived across Christian denominations during the imperial wars between England and France from 1680 to 1765. Professor Lecaque explains his unique academic journey from medievalist to early American historian and reveals how 18th century holy war sermons were often more apocalyptic than their medieval predecessors. We also learn how this rhetoric of holy violence was not isolated to the pulpit but permeated personal journals and letters.

Professor Lecaque is a recipient of the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium (NERFC) fellowship and the Kenneth and Carol Hills Fellowship in Colonial History.

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-20-Lecaque

This episode uses materials from:

Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

This episode will be published on 6 October 2025.

In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, we speak with Laura Clerx, a PhD candidate in the History Department at Boston College. Laura discusses her research into the connections between scientific inquiry and commercial enterprise in the post-revolutionary United States. She explores why the same figures who populated early scientific societies were also the ones spearheading major economic projects and how the drive to build a national economy shaped the very questions early American scientists asked. We also hear about her unique path from an undergraduate degree in evolutionary biology to the field of history and learn how the meaning of the word "science" has changed over time.

Laura Clerx is the recipient of 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-19-Clerx

This episode uses materials from:

Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

On this special episode of Historians & Their Histories, guest host Megan Kate Nelson interviews Manisha Sinha, Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. They discuss Prof. Sinha's latest publication, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920. Prof. Sinha tells us about the scholars that influenced her understanding of Reconstruction as well as how she is reconceptualizing the history of this period.

Prof. Sinha is a 2016-2017 recipient of the MHS-NEH long-term fellowship.

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-18-Sinha

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Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

On this episode of Historians & Their Histories, we speak with Cornelia H. Dayton, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut. Prof. Dayton discusses her research into the life of John Peters, the husband of acclaimed poet Phillis Wheatley. We also learn about her path to becoming an historian, her early interest in constitutional law, and the challenges of researching subaltern subjects, such as Peters, who left few firsthand accounts.

Prof. Dayton is a 2024-2025 recipient of the MHS-NEH long-term fellowship.

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-17-Dayton

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Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

On this episode of Historians & Their Histories, we speak with Elliot Warren, a PhD candidate at William & Mary. Elliot discusses his research on the influence of local governments on the understanding of republicanism and capitalism in the late eighteenth century. We also learn about how his background in local politics has shaped his understanding of the relationship between the local and national.

Elliot Warren is the recipient of a Louis Leonard Tucker Alumni Fellowship from the MHS and a fellowship from the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium.

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-16-Warren

This episode uses materials from:

Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)

On this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Prof. Adam Laats complicates the history of the American public school system and explains what this story can tell us about the state of public education today. Prof. Laats discusses how children attended, and did not attend, public school in the nineteenth century. We also hear about the collections he is examining while at the MHS and some of the interesting characters that have appeared in the documents.

Prof. Laats is the recipient of 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-15-Laats

This episode uses materials from:

Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)