Page of Reason, Vol. X, May 2022
Dispatches from your most humble servant, the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies, Iona College
Welcome to Volume X, the aluminum edition of Page of Reason, a newsletter of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), Iona College, New Rochelle, NY!
Each edition of Page of Reason features six sections, highlighting our activities and 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 Research Portal, theitps.org and follow us on Twitter @TheITPS.
Common Acts
Thomas Paine Festival 2022, organized by ITPS community partners the Huguenot & New Rochelle Historical Association and the Thomas Paine Cottage Museum, will showcase the rich history of New Rochelle’s deep connections to Thomas Paine’s life and legacy. Join us from June 16-18, 2022 as the New Rochelle and Westchester County communities commemorate Paine and the American Revolution in an exciting schedule of activities. ITPS Public Historian Michael Crowder will host an exhibition of Paine-related texts and artifacts at Ryan Library, Iona College, on Friday June 17 at 3:00 PM. More information about all of the exciting Thomas Paine Festival events available here!
The ITPS and Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association will also host Prof. Kirsten Fischer (University of Minnesota) on June 2, 2022 at 7:00 PM on Zoom, for a discussion of her new book, American Freethinker: Elihu Palmer and the Struggle for Religious Freedom in the New Nation (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021).
Fischer’s subject, nineteenth century freethinker Elihu Palmer, drew inspiration from Thomas Paine as he campaigned for freedom of speech and religious belief in the early nineteenth century. After discussing American Freethinker’s key themes, Prof. Fischer will join ITPS Public Historian Michael Crowder for an audience Q & A session— more details and free registration here.
Common Sounds
This month, host Dr. John Winters interviews Dr. Chip Colwell. They discuss Colwell’s wide-ranging work as an anthropologist, museologist, and a public-facing scholar. They talk about why it is so important and beneficial for public historians and scholars to reach out to their respective public, and then about Colwell’s work at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. There, he formed relationships with indigenous communities, directed the museum’s operations concerning repatriation and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. His further ongoing work includes the Museum’s Native Science Initiative, in addition to his work as Editor in Chief of the global public humanities project, SAPIENS. Listen here and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!
Common Views
At Iona College’s Spring 2022 Month of Excellence, Dr. Leah Hendrickson (University of Leeds) provided fascinating and important insights about the interstices and interconnections between digital humanities methodologies and data fuzziness. Enjoy Dr. Hendrickson’s talk!
Common Words
ITPS Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky has published several recent pieces, including this helpful list of new American history titles to help you get a jump on Father’s Day shopping for history buffs— a must read! (Of course, don’t forget Dr. Chervinsky’s The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution!)
Common Campus
A hearty and deserved congratulations to recent Iona College graduates that joyously celebrated commencement on Saturday May 21, 2022! Graduates included Chyanne Blakey ‘22, who served as ITPS History Communications intern from 2020-2022, and recently participated in the Undergraduate Research Workshop at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies in April. Congratulations, Chyanne!
Common Facts
Thanks to recent, generous donations, our Lapidus Collection of Revolutionary Era historiography is growing rapidly! We’ve begun a series of “Classic Covers” on ITPS social media, and this edition of Common Facts is inspired by this campaign. Name the author and title of the book in this snippet image.
Email your answer to itps@iona.edu, and the winner will receive gifts and goodies courtesy of the ITPS!