Boston Flora

Tag: David hsiung

  • Wednesday, May 27, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Eastern – Curious & Complex Connections: Environmental History & the War of Independence

    Many of us give only a moment’s thought about the environment when considering the War of Independence: the slope of Breed’s Hill, the ice-choked Delaware River, and diseases such as smallpox. But what might we gain by connecting biology, ecology, and geology to the thinking and actions of soldiers and civilians? Rebels and British soldiers acquired and used energy in the form of food, fuel, and work animals, which shaped people’s lives, the course of the war, and the direction of environmental change. Join the Massachusetts Historical Society on May 27 at 6 pm Eastern as David Hsiung, in conversation with Joyce Chaplin, discusses the intricate and often surprising ways in which the natural environment and the war changed each other.

    This is a hybrid event. FREE for MHS Members. $10 per person fee (in person). No charge for virtual attendees or Card to Culture participants (EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare). The in-person reception starts at 5:30 and the program will begin 6:00 PM. Register at https://www.masshist.org/events/curious-and-complex-connections

  • Tuesday, March 10, 5:15 pm – 7:30 pm – The Metabolism of Military Forces in the War of Independence: Environmental Contexts and Consequences

    The Massachusetts Historical Society presents an Environmental History Seminar on Tuesday, March 10 at 5:15 at 1154 Boylston Street in Boston on The Metabolism of Military Forces in the War of Independence: Environmental Contexts and Consequences. David Hsiung of Juniata College will speak, with comment by James Rice of Tufts University. In order to function during the War of Independence, armies and navies needed multiple sources of energy—food, firewood, work animals (which also needed food), ammunition, and more. How did specific natural environments, both proximate and distant, fuel those military metabolisms? How did such actions affect those environments in the decades and centuries that followed? This presentation is the seed of a book proposal that, when watered by your feedback, will germinate come summertime. Free, but registration requested at www.masshist.org.