1775: A Society on the Brink of War and Revolution
April 10-11, 2025
Conference held at the Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Tpke, Concord, MA 01742
The Concord Museum, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society will hold a conference on April 10-11, 2025 on the theme “1775”. The conference will be convened at the Concord Museum and marks the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. There will be opportunities for attendees to visit historic sites and view objects and collections significant to the Revolution.
Registration
All attendees must register to attend the conference in advance. Note that conference presenters and commenters do NOT need to register.
Register to attend here.
Conference registration is $20 and includes the Thursday evening reception and a boxed lunch on Friday. The registration fee is waved for graduate students and adjunct faculty.
Questions about registration? Email Allison Shilling, Deputy Director & Director of Engagement (ashilling@concordmuseum.org).
Schedule
Thursday, April 10
6:00-7:00 p.m.
Registration and Welcome Reception
7:00-8:00 p.m.
From Boycotts to Bullets: Was the Outbreak of the American Revolution Inevitable?
Serena Zabin, Carleton College
Robert A. Gross, University of Connecticut, Emeritus
Katherine Grandjean, Wellesley College
Friday, April 11
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Session 1: Faith and Ideas
Mark Boonshoft, Virginia Military Institute, “Religious Freedom in a Time of Revolution: New York, 1774-1775”
Tricia Peone, Congregational Library & Archives, “Exploring Print and Manuscript Sermons of the Revolution”
Ross W. Beales, Jr., College of the Holy Cross, “'the present Torrent of Liberty is irresistable': The Reverend Ebenezer Parkman and the Road to Revolution in Westborough, Massachusetts”
Comment: Stephen A. Marini, Wellesley College
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Session 2: Communities in Crisis
Donald Johnson, North Dakota State University, "From Observers to Generals: The Transformation of Local Committees at the Outset of the Revolutionary War"
Sarah Pearlman Shapiro, Brown University, “Care Work Vulnerabilities and Sexual Assault in 1775 Boston”
Kevin M. Sweeney, Amherst College, Emeritus, "The Guns of April: Kinds and Quantities of Firearms Kept and Borne in 1775"
Comment: J. L. Bell, Boston1775.net
11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Lunch and Open Time to Visit the Concord Museum
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Session 3: The Coming of War
Iris de Rode, Karsh Institute of Democracy, University of Virginia, “French Observers of Early American Unrest: How Lexington and Concord Shaped France's Entry into the American Revolution”
Blake McGready, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, “Masters of the Lake? Political and Ecological Struggles in the Champlain Basin, 1775”
Richard H. Tomczak, Stony Brook University, "The Invasion of Quebec and the Politics of Popular Protest, 1775-1776"
Comment: Eliga Gould, University of New Hampshire
3:00-4:15 p.m.
Session 4: Myth, Material, and Memory
Michael Hattem, Yale University, “Concord in the Popular Memory of the American Revolution”
Erica Lome, Historic New England, “Patriot, Son, and Symbol: Josiah Quincy Jr.'s Material Legacy”
Kathleen Criscitiello, Lexington Historical Society, "Reexamining Lexington's Revolutionary History in Swept Up in Revolution"
Comment: Reed Gochberg, Concord Museum
4:15-5:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks & Discussion
