Massachusetts Historical Society, an independent, non-profit organization, brings to you events on Slavery to Segregation, Uncivil Society, and Fashion and Politics in New England.

·      February 18, 5:30-7:00 Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson & America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation. Steve Luxenberg presents a myth-shattering narrative of how a nation embraced “separation” and its pernicious consequences. Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case synonymous with “separate but equal,” created remarkably little stir when the justices announced their near-unanimous decision on May 18, 1896. Yet it is one of the most compelling and dramatic stories of the nineteenth century, whose outcome embraced and protected segregation, and whose reverberations are still felt into the twenty-first.

·       February 21, 5:30-7:00 Uncivil Society. American political discourse has become so dysfunctional it is hard to imagine reaching a national consensus on almost anything. Longstanding historical fault lines over income inequality, racial division, gender roles, and sexual norms coupled with starkly different senses of economic opportunity in rural and urban America have fueled a polarized political landscape. Julian E. Zelizer (author of Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974), Michael Tomasky (author of If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How it Might Be Saved), and Robin Young (co-host of Here & Now on WBUR and NPR), will discuss how we got here and if there is a way back.

·       February 27, 5:30-7:00 You Are What You Wear? Navigating Fashion & Politics in New England, 1760s–1770s. Our guest curator, Kimberly Alexander, will explore the social values placed on luxury and thrift in New England in the late 18th century. What messages were telegraphed by a person’s clothing and how were these understood? Did everyone in society read these messages the same way or were there statements only meant to be understood by a select few?