May Humanities Lectures and Discussions to Focus on Indigenous History of NEPA
This May a pair of Humanities Lectures and Discussions focusing on the Indigenous history of NEPA will be offered as a part of the "Scranton's Story, Our Nation's Story" project. On Wednesday, May 11 at 5 p.m., there will be a humanities lecture and discussion "Murder and Mercy: A Colonial Encounter in the Susquehanna Valley," featuring scholar Nicole Eustace and on Wednesday, May 18 at 5 p.m., there will be a humanities lecture and discussion, "Removal and the Right to Remain in the United States," featuring scholar Samantha Seeley. Both events are a continuation of the project’s third theme, the Indigenous History of NEPA, and will focus on colonization and the importance of an inclusive telling of this period of our nation’s story.
Adam Pratt, a professor of history at Scranton who helped organize these lectures said, “It’s really important to be sharing Native American history as part of the Scranton’s Story project. Any truthful reckoning with the area’s past must include the people who lived here prior to the city’s formation, and whose absence we should consider when thinking about the city today. We’re also fortunate to have two great scholars coming to Scranton to share with us their vitally important research about conflict between American settlers and Indigenous inhabitants in colonial Pennsylvania and the early United States.”
Nicole Eustace, Ph.D., a professor of history at NYU, is a prolific writer. Her talk, “Murder and Mercy”: A Colonial Encounter in the Susquehanna Valley” will highlight the central themes of her latest book, Covered with Night, which explores competing interpretations of justice and morality on the Pennsylvania frontier. She demonstrates the complex layers and textures of everyday life as colonists encountered Native peoples in eastern Pennsylvania. Covered with Night was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award. This event will take place on Wednesday, May 11 at 5 p.m. in the PNC Auditorium, Loyola Science Center 133 at The University of Scranton. Registration required: surveymonkey.com/r/MurderMercy2022
Samantha Seeley, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond. Her book, Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the Early United States, highlights early efforts at U.S. nation-building and the use of migration to construct a white republic. Situating the struggles of Native and Black Americans into the larger story of the early U.S, Seeley argues for a more inclusive way to tell the story of forced removal and its implications on early U.S. statehood.
Her talk, “Removal and the Right to Remain in the United States,” will take place on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at 5 p.m., in the Henkelman Room at Albright Memorial Library, Scranton, PA. Registration is required at: surveymonkey.com/r/RemovalRight2022
These events are a continuation of the "Scranton's Story, Our Nation's Story" project's third theme, Indigenous History of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which began earlier this spring with a series of events featuring Indigenous artists and members of the Shinnecock Nation, Jeremy Dennis. Additional events are planned for this theme in November of 2022. Events in this theme are a collaboration of The University of Scranton, Black Scranton Project, Lackawanna County Arts & Culture Department, Lackawanna Historical Society, Scranton Public Library, and WVIA with the support of additional project partner organizations.
For more information on all programs and upcoming events, please visit scranton.edu/scrantonstory
Questions? Email community@scranton.edu or call 570-941-4419.
These events have been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these events do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
