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Today's Hours: Museum 10:00 - 4:00 | Library 8:30 - 4:30

Research Seminars

For twenty years Hagley’s research seminars have brought innovative works-in-progress essays for wide-ranging discussions on Thursday evenings during the academic year.

Seminars are open to the public and based on a paper that is circulated in advance. Those planning to attend are encouraged to read the paper before coming to the seminar. Copies may be obtained by emailing Nicole Mahoney, nmahoney@hagley.org. Seminars begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. and take place in the Copeland Room of Hagley’s library building.

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Upcoming Research Seminars

2018 - 2019 Series -- View Series PDF

January 10, 2019: Laura Puaca, Domesticating Disability: The Creation of Assistive Devices for Disabled Homemakers in the Post-WWII U.S.

This analysis of gender, technology, and disability will explore the creation and implementation of assistive devices for disabled homemakers in the post-World War II United States.
February 7, 2019: Jessica K. Burch, A New Deal for Direct Sales: How Direct Sales Firms Helped Create Modern Non-Employment, 1910–1935

This paper focuses on the National Association of Direct Selling Companies and its role in establishing direct sales as a distinct sector.
April 4, 2019: Jennifer Black, Policing Fakes: Early Trademark Regulation in the U.S.

This paper examines the problem of counterfeit goods in the antebellum years.
April 25, 2019: Regina Lee Blaszczyk, The Synthetics Revolution and the Senses

This paper examines the synthetics revolution in fashion and fibers within the context of the new field of the history of the senses.

Past Research Seminars

2018 - 2019 Series -- View Series PDF

A. J. Murphy. Corporatizing Defense: Management Expertise and the Transformation of the Cold War U.S. Military (December 6, 2018)
Seth Lunine. Groundbreaking Technology: California Dynamite and the Eastern Frontier, 1866-1886 (October 25, 2018)
Nadia Berenstein. A Flavor You Can’t Forget: NuGrape Soda, Synthetic Chemistry, and Modern Thirst (September 20, 2018)

2017 - 2018 Series -- View Series PDF

Jessica Levy. Black Empowerment, Global American Business, and the Post-Jim Crow/Apartheid City (April 26, 2018)
Kendra Smith-Howard. The Messy Work of Cleaning Up: Economy, Policy, and the Disposable Diaper, 1936–1996 (March 22, 2018)
Adam Rome. DuPont and the Limits of Corporate Environmentalism (February 15, 2018)
Dara Orenstein. Free Ports for Refugees': How the U.S. Turned a Warehouse for Duty-Free Garbanzo Beans into an Internment Camp for European Jews (January 18, 2018)
Marcus Anthony Allen. The Black Saver Paradigm: Understanding Black Capitalism in 19th Century Baltimore (November 16, 2017)
Emanuela Scarpellini. The Invention of Democratic Beauty: Avon Products in Italy (October 12, 2017)
Alexandra Hui. Making Muzak Natural: The sounds of life, death, and the lyre bird in the built environment, 1950–1970 (September 14, 2017)

2016 - 2017 Series -- View Series PDF

Jeannette Estruth. Silicon Valley Conservation: Redefining Environmental and Labor Politics, 1970-199 (May 18, 2017)
Andrew Russell. Stories about Maintenance- Recasting the Histories of Technology, Business, Labor, and Organizations (April 20, 2017)
Tyler Anbinder. New York's Famine Irish Immigrants (February 16, 2017)
Amrys Williams. Reimagining the Modern Farm: Ecological Development and 4-H’s New Deal for Agriculture (January 19, 2017)
Amanda Casper. New Business from Old Houses - Promoting Electricity through Home Alteration in Progressive Era Philadelphia (December 8, 2016)
Joseph Malherek. Does Motivation Matter? (November 3, 2016)
Lee Vinsel. The Rise and Fall of the First American Auto Safety Network, 1919-1940 (October 6, 2016)

2015 - 2016 Series -- View Series PDF

Jonathan Free. Capitalizing on Crisis (May 18, 2016)
Philip Scranton. This Grave New World: Global Postwar Transformations in Business Practices (April 13, 2016)
Rebecca Kobrin. Credit to the Nation: Jewish Immigrants, the World of Immigrant Banking and American Finance, 1873-1914 (February 17, 2016)
Benjamin R. Cohen. The New Food Police: Controlling Homes and Bodies in the Early Age of Manufactured Foods (December 9, 2015)
Rachel Gross. Miracle Materials: Synthetic Fibers and the Construction of Comfort in Outdoor Recreation (November 18, 2015)
Bryant Simon. The Hamlet Imperial Food Products Fire: Business Relocation, Tragedy, and the Geography of Silence in Post-New Deal America (September 16, 2015)

2014 - 2015 Series -- View Series PDF

Chantal Rodriguez. Unfit for Work (April 23, 2015)
Mark Rose. Supermarket Banks (March 26, 2015)
Tiago Saraiva. Cloning California: Oranges and American Democracy in the Global Mediterranean (February 19, 2015)
Stephen Mihm. Loose Screws and Standard Sizes: The Many Measures of Modernity (December 11, 2014)
Jesse LeCavalier. Walmart and the Architecture of Logistics (November 6, 2014)
Roger Horowitz. Man-O-Manischewitz, What a Wine! (October 2, 2014)