Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture
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Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture 2014 Annual Report 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 1 Executive Board and Council Members The Executive Board, FY 2013-2014 The Council of the Institute, FY 2013-2014 Members of the Omohundro Institute’s Executive Board determine matters Members of the Council are typically drawn from the academic community. of policy and have responsibility for the financial and general management Councilors advise the Institute director and the Executive Board on policy, and for resource development of the Institute. The Executive Board consists programmatic, and professional matters of concern to the Institute and of six members: three elected by the Board and three ex officio members serve on one of the Council’s three standing committees: the William and (the chief education officer of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Mary Quarterly Editorial Board, the Book Publications Committee, or the chief academic officer of the College of William & Mary, and the chair of Programs Committee. the Institute Council). • Holly Brewer, University of Maryland • Michael R. Halleran, College of William & Mary • Nicholas P. Canny, National University of Ireland, Galway • James Horn, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation • Alison F. Games, Georgetown University • Sidney Lapidus • Philip Gould, Brown University • Peter C. Mancall, University of Southern California • David J. Hancock, University of Michigan • Robert C. Ritchie, The Huntington Library (Chair) • April Lee Hatfield, Texas A&M • Paul S. Sperry • Margaretta Markle Lovell, University of California, Berkeley • Peter C. Mancall, University of Southern California (Chair) • Roderick A. McDonald, Rider University • Jennifer L. Morgan, New York University • Nicholas S. Popper, College of William & Mary • Daniel K. Richter, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania • Stuart B. Schwartz, Yale University • John Sherer (ex officio), University of North Carolina Press • Stephanie Smallwood, University of Washington • Lorena S. Walsh, Independent Scholar 2 THE OMOHUNDRO INSTITUTE From the Director Karin Wulf What a pleasure it is to review featured in multiple online venues. Current projections indicate that mobile highlights of the past year even device use will overtake desktop and laptop computing in just a couple of as we look forward to new years, and we need to anticipate new ways to make our work accessible. projects and new opportunities Through the Lapidus Initiative and with important help from Adobe this fall in early American scholarship. we released an app with WMQ content, the OI Reader on iTunes, and are Conferences in California and working to enhance its features and platforms. Canada, predoctoral fellowships, postdoctoral fellows in residence, But whatever the venue or format, our mission remains clear. The new books and book prizes, a new Omohundro Institute is dedicated to supporting and producing excellent Editor in the chair at the William scholarship that will last for the (technological) ages. And, as ever, your and Mary Quarterly–all of which you support for and participation in this community is fundamental. can read more about here. Sincerely, A highlight among highlights was Karin Wulf the launch of the Lapidus Initiative, made possible by the generous and innovative philanthropy of Sid and Ruth Lapidus. The Lapidus Initiative helps us to both expand the reach of ongoing programs that have invigorated early American scholars and scholarship for decades, and to innovate with digital technologies. To be clear, we are not becoming digital; we are digital. Although we still print and mail more than a thousand copies of the William and Mary Quarterly, the journal is read many hundreds of thousands of times online. Our books are 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 3 History Leading Early American Scholarship Since 1943 The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture is the oldest organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to advancing the study, research, and publication of scholarship bearing on the history and culture of early America, broadly construed, from circa 1450 to 1820. Our scope includes North America and related histories of the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Since 1943 the Institute has published the William and Mary Quarterly and books, and sponsored conferences and fellowships. The College of William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation founded the Institute of Early American History and Culture and continue to jointly sponsor its work. In 1996 the College and Colonial Williamsburg added Omohundro to the Institute’s name in recognition of a generous gift from the late Mr. and Mrs. Malvern H. Omohundro, Jr. History 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 5 Table of Contents Events Fellowships Conferences 8 Postdoctoral 22 Colloquia 10 Currently in Residence 22 Council Lecture 11 Recent Fellows 25 Predoctoral 26 Lapidus-OIEAHC Fellowships 26 Publications Fellowships in Historical Editing 27 Books 12 William and Mary Quarterly 16 Lapidus Initiative 20 Support OI Reader 21 Gifts 28 Uncommon Sense 21 Associates 30 The Octo 21 6 THE OMOHUNDRO INSTITUTE 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 7 Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 Conferences September 5–7, 2013 Modern Studies Institute. Several conference traditions evolved: live Tweets British Group in Early American History Annual Conference helped participants in Halifax stay abreast of panels while all conferences Conflict-Resolution-Conflict saw the heavy printed conference programs of the past replaced with University of St. Andrews and University of East Anglia smaller, light-weight cards listing panel names and times and directions to Geoff Plank, Program Chair detailed websites that were viewable on computers, tablets and phones. October 4-5, 2013 In October 2013, we launched our first-ever Call for Conference Proposals. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales Québec Chaired by Margaretta Lovell, the Proposal Committee encouraged Early The Quebec Act of 1774 Americanists to propose their own OIEAHC conferences, bearing the François Furstenberg and Ollivier Hubert, Program Chairs following considerations in mind: • That the proposal reflects an ambitious intellectual agenda. May 30-31, 2014 • That the proposal reflects a reasonable commitment of resources WMQ–EMSI Workshop necessary for co-sponsorship of a conference. The Age of Revolutions • That the likely Program Committee be constituted so as to advance Sarah Knott, Indiana University, Convener the intellectual mission of the proposed program. • That the Program Committee reflects the diverse composition and June 12-15, 2014 interests of the community of early American history and culture 20th Annual Institute Conference scholars. Dalhousie University and St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia • That the OIEAHC welcomes proposals from organizations Justin Roberts and Elizabeth Mancke, Program Chairs interested in holding conferences in Williamsburg, Virginia– our home base. Ideally, the OIEAHC would like to hold conferences Conference attendance in 2013-2014 was above average with a full 249 in Williamsburg every other year or every third year, depending on attendees joining us in Halifax for the 20th Annual Institute conference. conference proposals. In addition, 120 participated in a rigorous discussion in Quebec while 58 exchanged ideas at the WMQ workshop, co-sponsored with the USC Early 8 THE OMOHUNDRO INSTITUTE 2014 ANNUAL REPORT 9 Colloquia September 10, 2013 February 11, 2014 Kathleen Duval, University of North Carolina Allison Bigelow, Omohundro Institute NEH Fellow “Independence Lost: The Gulf Coast in the American Revolution” “The Science of Colonial Silver: Women, Men, and the Translation and Transmission of Natural Knowledge” September 24, 2013 Anna Brickhouse, University of Virginia March 11, 2014 “Mistranslation and Unsettlement: from La Navidad to Plymouth” Laura Keenan Spero, Omohundro Institute Postdoctoral Fellow “Savannahs, Slavers and Sorcerers: Shawnees and Their Neighbors in the October 15, 2013 Native Southeast” Bradford J. Wood, Eastern Kentucky University “Colonial North Carolina and the Limits of the Atlantic World” April 1, 2014 Christopher Parsons, Northeastern University November 5, 2013 “Plants, People, and the Discovery of Difference in Colonial French North Daniel Hulsebosch, New York University School of Law America” “Being Seen Like a State: The American Constitution and Its International Audiences at the Founding” April 22, 2014 Carla Gardina Pestana, University of California, Los Angeles November 20, 2013 “Why Invade Jamaica?” Ben Marsh, University of Stirling “A Revolting Fiber? Silk and the Challenges of the American Revolution” International Video Seminar with the University of Edinburgh 10 THE OMOHUNDRO INSTITUTE Alan Taylor Council Lecture On May 3, 2014, award-winning historian Alan Taylor delivered the 1st annual OIEAHC Council Lecture to a standing-room only crowd on the campus of William & Mary. Drawing from his manuscript in progress, American Revolutions, Mr. Taylor delivered “The West & the American Revolution: Causes and Consequences.” A synthesis of recent scholarship on the Era of the American Revolution (1760–1821), the book weaves Mexico and Canada into a narrative about the impact of revolutionary republicanism and counter-revolutionary activism. It will be published by W. W. Norton as a sequel to American Colonies (2001). In 2014, Mr. Taylor won the Pulitzer Prize and was named a finalist for the National Book Award for his book, The Internal Enemy: