This symposium looks at how human activity has transformed the New England landscape, from the last Ice Age through the end of the 20th century. Speakers will explore how the land and ecology of this region have been reshaped over time by Native American practice, colonial settlement and agriculture, population growth, industrialization, and cultural and technological change. They will also discuss how our present understanding of the landscape, and attitudes about its conservation and stewardship, have emerged from this long history

The Speakers

Brian Donahue, Assistant Professor of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University and author of Reclaiming the Commons, will discuss the change from subsistence agriculture in the colonial period to commercial agriculture in the 19th century in Concord, Mass., and its impact on the ecology of the town.

David Foster, Director of Harvard Forest and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, will consider how the ecological, environmental, and cultural changes over the past 500 years have defined our current understanding and conservation of the New England landscape.

Robert Gordon, Professor of Geophysics and Applied Mechanics at Yale University, and an authority on the technological history and archaeology of the iron industry, will examine the transformation of the Salisbury district of northwestern Connecticut from an iron manufacturing center to a recreational mecca for tourists and full-time residents.

Martha Lance, a historical archaeologist who has worked at Old Sturbridge Village and taught at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash., will use her extensive research into sawmilling in central Massachusetts to describe how the transition from traditional small-scale operation to large-scale lumber production transformed the forests and waterways of the region.

John Mitchell, editor of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Sanctuary magazine, will draw upon his book, Ceremonial Time, to discuss the evolution of a square mile of land, called "Scratch Flat," in Littleton, Mass. over the last 15,000 years.

Frank White, Curator of Mechanical Arts at Old Sturbridge Village, will share his research into early efforts to improve center villages and roadways in New England by planting trees for beautification as well as shade

Registration fee: $75.00

Call, write or email Frank White at the address below.