In May 2025, Canada completed the first year of a planned 25-year, one-billion-dollar restoration project for the Quebec Bridge. This famous bridge is the longest cantilever truss span in the world, stretching 1,800 feet (549 meters) between its supports and 3,239 feet (987 meters) in total. Finished in 1917, it unfortunately stands as proof of the adage, “third time’s the charm.”
The 19th century represented a major time of transition in the United States. During this dawning of the Industrial Revolution, machines replaced human labor, opened new industries, and provided unique opportunities for growth. But the transition was gradual. Living, breathing machinery such as horses worked alongside steam engines and electrical generators for decades. Horses were critical to the development of America’s mixed industrial and agricultural economy as well as its bustling urban landscapes.
In February of 2023, Hagley’s Oral History Project Manager, Ben Spohn, traveled to Maine to visit Tom and Mary Moser at their home. This visit was in tandem with the acquisition of the Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers records documenting the history of the family’s furniture company. The Thos.
Building international cooperation is a slow, painstaking process, one made more difficult when some people don’t see the need for it. To businesses, however, international cooperation is positively necessary as a means to secure intellectual property rights, market share, and profit opportunities.
This episode has been postponed and will be released at a later date.
Ben Spohn will interview Alessandra La Rocca Link about her new book, The Iron Horse in Indian Country: Native Americans and Railroads in the US West.
While popular memory may have forgotten them, about half of the sailors, soldiers, missionaries, tradesmen, and colonists that made up the Spanish Empire were Black, people who were part of the African diaspora. Studying their history allows scholars new ways to research and interpret Spanish colonialism, perhaps especially in the Pacific context.
Among the objects donated to the museum last September was a large steamer trunk. This trunk (see below) was used at the Granogue Estate to store a collection of 19th century prints, paintings, and artists’ materials historically connected to Elise Wigfall (Simons) du Pont (1849-1919). Granogue served as a place of residence for the family of Irene Sophie du Pont, daughter of Elise and her husband, former DuPont Company vice president Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904).