Thursday, January 16, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – The Fight Before the Flood: Rural Protest and the Debate Over Boston’s Quabbin Reservoir
In 1919, state engineers proposed solving Boston’s water supply crisis by damming the Swift River, flooding a western Massachusetts valley and evicting 2,500 people. The contentious six-year debate that followed does not fit the standard story of urban conservationists versus rural peoples, as many valley residents defined themselves as rural and conservationist, and thus offers scholars a chance to see fresh nuances in early twentieth-century land management, rural life, and urban development. The Massachusetts Historical Society welcomes Jeffrey Egan of University of Connecticut, with comment by Karl Haglund, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, on Tuesday, January 16 from 5:15 – 7:30, at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston. To RSVP: email seminars@masshist.org or call (617) 646-0579.
