Page of Reason, Vol. III, April 2021
Dispatches from your most humble servant, the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies, Iona College.
Welcome to Volume III of Page of Reason, a monthly newsletter of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), Iona College, New Rochelle, NY!
Each monthly edition of Page of Reason features six sections of content produced by the ITPS, highlighting the work of our friends and colleagues in the fields of American, Atlantic, and Global history, and featuring the Iona College community: Common Acts, Common Facts, Common Sounds, Common Views, Common Campus, and Common Words. Find more information about the ITPS and our activities at our new Research Portal, theitps.org and follow us on Twitter @TheITPS!
Common Acts
In our continued collaboration with the Huguenot & New Rochelle Historical Society, we’re hosting Dr. Frances A. Chiu for a virtual discussion of her new publication, The Routledge Guidebook to Paine’s Rights of Man, with ITPS Public Historian Dr. Michael Crowder. May 5, 2021, at 7:00PM. Register here!
Of interest to our friends and neighbors in Westchester County: On Thursday, May 20 at 6:00 PM, Field Horne, author of Westchester County: A History, will deliver a presentation entitled “Exploring Eighteenth Century Westchester Through Inventories.” Field’s talk will provide insights into the houses, farms, and everyday lives of Westchesterites between 1664 and 1790. Co-sponsored by the Yonkers Public Library and the Yonkers Public Library. Join the conversation here!
Common Sounds
The April episode of ITPS Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky’s ITPS Podcast, “Museum Exhibits,” features Alison Mann, a Public Historian at the National Museum of American Diplomacy. As the museum is currently in development, she guides us through what it takes to create a museum, from determining an overarching theme and throughline to writing concise and accessible exhibit labels. She also discusses the use of technology and experiential elements, as well as how museums can approach their topics in moments of partisan division.
We then speak with three members of the Smithsonian Exhibits team; Deputy Director Matthew O’Connor, Head of Exhibit Design Juanita Wichienkuer, and exhibit developer and writer John Powell. They discuss the multiple year process of developing an exhibit for the Smithsonian, including the importance of considering your audience and the collaborative nature of the Smithsonian’s in-house Exhibits team. They also reflect on the pandemic’s impact on museum exhibits and the transition to virtual experiences. Listen and subscribe here!
Common Views
In February, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Ben Wright (UT-Dallas) for a discussion of his important new book on the entangle histories of American Christianity and American abolitionism in Early and Antebellum America, Bonds of Salvation: How Christianity Inspired and Limited American Abolitionism (LSU Press). Watch Dr. Wright’s conversation with the ITPS’s Dr. Michael Crowder below!
Common Words
Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Chervinsky’s typically busy publishing month included an important discussion of the history and politics of women in the Cabinet, the history (and slow decline) of the Presidential Executive Order, and her selections for the five best books on the Presidential Cabinets!
Common Campus
An exciting new development in our own backyard, as Iona College has announced a transformative plan to create a new green space in the heart of campus, set to open in Spring 2022! We’re hoping some outdoor historical events are in the near future… Read more about it here!
Common Facts
Congratulations to Linda Killian (Ph.D. Candidate, American University), scholar of the shared ideologies of Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, for correctly answering last month’s Common Facts query: William Cobbett!
We’ve decided to make it a bit more esoteric this month: Which printer ad publisher gave Thomas Paine his first North American employment as editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine in January 1775?
Email your answer to itps@iona.edu!