Agreeable Situations at 21:
Art, Objects, and Culture in Maine
A Day-Long Symposium
May 10, 2008, 9:00am - 3:30pm
at Maine Historical Society, Portland, Maine
Please join us for a day-long symposium that celebrates the anniversary of Agreeable Situations: Society, Commerce, and Art in Southern Maine, 1780-1830. The program will explore the significance of this landmark book, and consider key issues in the study of material culture today. Speakers include nationally-known scholars, curators, and students working on Maine subjects. AGREEABLE SITUATIONS AT 21 is being organized by the Maine Historical Society in conjunction with the original collaborating institutions: The Brick Store Museum, Saco Museum, and Old York Historical Society.
By considering objects in conjunction with historical essays, the book provides an essential foundation for understanding Maine material culture and the state's role in early American life and culture. In his Winterthur Portfolio review (winter 1989), Ian Quimby found it an "impressive accomplishment...an example to be emulated." A key text and point of reference, it has happily been pulled from bookshelves by students, curators, scholars, and the public ever since.
Download Symposium Schedule and Registration Form
Speakers
Featured speakers will include:
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, History Department, Harvard University
- Kevin D. Murphy, Professor of Art History, CUNY Graduate Center
- Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Director, Maine Historic Preservation Commission and State Historian
- Emerson Baker, Professor of History, Salem State College
- Thomas Hardiman, keeper, Portsmouth Athenaeum
- Laura Fecych Sprague, consulting curator of decorative arts, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, and independent curator
- John Mayer, Curator of the Museum, Maine Historical Society
- Abby Burch, Lois F. McNeil Fellow in the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware
Registration
$65; $55 MHS Members
Early-Bird Rate: $55; $45 MHS Members. For early-bird rate, your registration must be received by 5pm, Friday, April 25.
Download the schedule and registration form or call MHS at (207) 774-1822 and register with a credit card.
Purchase the Book
Purchase Agreeable Situations at the MHS online store.