EVENTS
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA
The Other: understanding witch hunts
ONLINE, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025, 7-8:30pm ET
EMERSON BAKER, SARAH JACK AND JOSH HUTCHINSON
Join award-winning historian Emerson “Tad” Baker in this wide-ranging discussion of New England witch hunts, guest moderated by podcasters Sarah Jack and Josh Hutchinson of End Witch Hunts. Why did neighbors accuse one another of dark, invisible crimes? What fears, rivalries, and beliefs fueled the frenzy? And why were some individuals marked as evil while others were spared? A timely conversation about one of the most haunting chapters in American history.
resistance: stopping witch hunts
ONLINE, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2025, 7-8:30pm ET
EMERSON BAKER, SARAH JACK AND JOSH HUTCHINSON
In this second of two discussions, renowned historian Emerson “Tad” Baker talks to podcasters Sarah Jack and Josh Hutchinson of End Witch Hunts about the resistance: the many people who defended friends, relatives and even strangers - at considerable risk to themselves. What role did the New England leadership play, if any? How did communities heal? Another fascinating discussion, this time focusing on the courage of people who simply said “no more”.
1630: FROM SHAWMUT TO BOSTON
WALKING TOUR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025, 5:30-7pm ET
ROXANNE REDDINGTON-WILDE
Follow in the footsteps of the original inhabitants - the Massachusetts people - of the Shawmut peninsula and the Puritan colonists who created the town of Boston in their own image. Our newly revised walking tour takes you through the by-ways and people of the past, tracing the lives of figures including Anne Hutchinson, John Winthrop and more. Engaging, informative and entertaining, this tour is not to be missed. Places limited to 20.
gathered into a church
ONLINE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2025, 7-8:30pm ET
LORI ROGERS-STOKES
For centuries Congregationalism has been studied as a purely English faith - a legacy of the Puritans. But as author Lori Rogers-Stokes’ groundbreaking research shows, in fact its congregations were mixed: white, black, and Indigenous. The church itself, as the case of Hasanamisco illustrates, was shaped by its Indigenous members in its most foundational aspect: how to be a full church member. Join us for an eye-opening evening and celebrate the launch of Lori’s new book!
BOOK CLUB: THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND
ONLINE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2025, 11am-12:30pm ET
EVANA ROSE TAMAYO
From primary school we’re taught that Thanksgiving is the foundational American tradition - a moment of harmony between Indigenous people and colonists. In this book club gathering, we’ll read David Silverman’s acclaimed This Land is Their Land, and discover something very different - the Thanksgiving story told from the Wampanoag point of view. “An eye-opening, vital reexamination of Americas’ founding myth,” wrote one reviewer. Join us to to read, discuss - and have fun!
The Slews and Hoars of Beverly
ONLINE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2025, 7-8:30pm ET
JEANNE PICKERING
Independent scholar Jeanne Pickering takes us into the links between generations and between slavery and witchcraft, exploring the lives of two women caught by circumstance. In these Essex county lawsuits, starting with the Salem trials, we have a close-up view of the vulnerability of women trapped by poverty and made victims. One remained victim, one fought back.
radicalism and resistance in the english civil wars
ONLINE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2025, 6-7:30pm ET
RACHEL FOXLEY
We think of revolutionary ideas originating in 1775/1776 but more than a century before, English political thinkers were proposing representation, elements of democracy and an end to monarchy. Historian Rachel Foxley, University of Reading, explores the unexpected, even startling, radicalism of English civil war thinkers, including Levellers such as pamphleteer John Lilburne. Fascinating, little known, and arrestingly radical, these thinkers sound revolutionary even today. Third in our Revolution before the Revolution series.
BOOK CLUB: THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND
ONLINE, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2025, 11am-12:30pm ET
EVANA ROSE TAMAYO
Our first book club discussions were fascinating, enlightening and fun! This one will be too. Join us in exploring the founding myth of American history - Thanksgiving. From primary school we’re taught that Thanksgiving was a moment of harmony between Indigenous people and colonists. From David Silverman’s acclaimed This Land is Their Land we’ll discover something very different - the Thanksgiving story told from the Wampanoag point of view. “A gripping, Native-centred narrative of the English invasion of New England,” wrote a reviewer. Just right for the pre-Thanksgiving season!
RESISTING TYRANNY, DEFINING LIBERTY
ONLINE, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2025, 7-8:30pm ET
FRANCIS J. BREMER
While England plunged into civil war, New England faced dissidents and political questions. But instead of taking up arms (and although they sent men to fight in the English civil wars), Puritan leaders took pen to paper, drafting statements on the nature and limits of liberty, the threat of tyranny, and the proper relationship between church and state. This final lecture in our series Revolutions before the Revolution, by award-winning historian Francis J. Bremer, explores how 17th century Puritans created a new understanding of citizen rights that would inspire colonial rebels a century later - and should inspire us today.
“You knocked it out of the park with this lecture. Have signed up for them all.”
—attendee, Enslavement & Resistance series