Page of Reason | January 2025
Dispatches from your most humble servant
Page of Reason is the newsletter of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS) at Iona University in New Rochelle, New York. Learn more about the ITPS and our activities at our Research Portal. You can follow us on Twitter @TheITPS, BlueSky @theitps.bsky.social, and Mastodon @ITPS@historians.social.
In this newsletter, you’ll find:
New AI Training Workshop for Undergraduates
Happy Birthday, Thomas Paine (Old Style)!
New AI Training Workshop for Undergraduates
Current undergraduates at Iona are invited to apply for a new AI training workshop in partnership with the graduate program in book publishing at Portland State University. During the three-day workshop, students will learn to digitize archival items related to Thomas Paine from the Ryan Library and then train an AI program based on these materials. Then students will evaluate and fact check program — called pAIne — as well as the methodology behind building it for accuracy and potential uses. Students will receive a stipend at the end of the workshop and do not need any prior training or experience. All majors are welcome to apply!
WHEN: May 19-21, 2025
WHERE: Iona University, New Rochelle
WHAT: AI Training Workshop
Interested? Send a short email to Dr. Nora Slonimsky (nslonimsky@iona.edu).
Happy Birthday, Thomas Paine! Or not?
Born in the small village of Thetford in Norfolk, England, Thomas Paine’s birthday is sometimes cited as January 29, 1736. But some sources list it as February 9, 1737. That’s because Paine was born during a period when the calendar was not standardized and many countries, colonies, civil authorities, and religious groups recognized different calendars. In 1582, the King of Spain decreed a change from the Julian (taking its name from Julius Caesar and which was the predominant calendar in the Roman Empire) to the Gregorian calendar, issued by Pope Gregory XIII which affected much of Roman Catholic Europe. Protestant and Eastern Orthodox countries gradually moved to the Gregorian calendar over the next centuries and it is the calendar used in most parts of the world today.
England, Ireland, Wales, and Britain’s American colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752 and during the transition period both notations were often given, labeled as “Old Style” (O.S.) for the date according to the Julian calendar or “New Style” (N.S.) for the Gregorian date. The difference between the calendars at that time is approximately 11 days plus an advance of one year for the dates between January 1 and March 25. So, using the Julian calendar, Paine’s birthday is January 29, 1736 (O.S.). Using the Gregorian calendar, Paine’s birthday is February 9, 1737 (N.S.). Similarly, George Washington’s birthday was recorded at the time as February 11, 1731 (O.S.). The new Gregorian dating method moved his birthday forward 11 days and an advance of one year so it is now celebrated as February 22, 1732.
