The Henry Sheldon Museum presents a lecture by historian Christine DeLucia on Feb. 9, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. This is the fifth talk in the virtual series “Elephant in the Room: Exploring the Future of Museums” convened by the Stewart-Swift Research Center.  This presentation “Old Maps, New Pathways: Cartography, Museum Collections, and Decolonial Possibilities,” revisits maps and material culture collections in local museums, historical societies, and archives across the Northeast. DeLucia will explore two intertwined threads: how these sources can illuminate histories of Euro-colonial impacts across Indigenous homelands; and how they may convey vital Indigenous critiques, resistances, and ongoing relationships with homelands and sovereignties. The talk invites reflections on the active links between past, present and future, and 21st century possibilities for engaging heritage materials in new ways.

DeLucia is an Associate Professor of History at Williams College. Her book “Memory Lands: King Philip’s War and the Place of Violence in the Northeast” (2018) won awards from the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, Massachusetts Historical Society, and New England American Studies Association, and honorable mention from the National Council on Public History. She teaches and is involved in public humanities projects centering material culture, place-based ways of knowing and remembering, and decolonial approaches.

This talk, funded by Vermont Humanities, is free and open to all. Additional support for this talk is provided by Dinse. To learn more about the “Elephant in the Room” series and to register for the talk, visit henrysheldonmuseum.org/elephant-in-the-room.