Vermont Humanities
Image of sharpshooters taking aim

Vermont’s Remarkable Sharpshooters

Historian Howard Coffin will discuss his recent research into this little-recognized group and consider the reasons why Vermont may have been so well-represented in this elite group of marksmen.

Image of painting of medieval kitchen helpers

Soup to Nuts: An Eccentric History of Food

Rebecca Rupp reveals the rocky evolution of table manners, the not-so-welcome invention of the fork, the awful advent of portable soup, and the surprising benefits of family dinners.

Image of beekeeper with hive

Bees Besieged: A History of Beekeeping

Bill Mares, writer, and a beekeeper for 45 years, tells of the origins and evolution of beekeeping, with a particular emphasis on his research in Vermont. 

Image of Abner Doubleday

Double-Talk on Doubleday: How a Dead Civil War General Invented Baseball Without His Permission

Norwich University Professor Rowly Brucken explores the founding myths of baseball’s real and fictional origins, and considers the broader context of the age of imperialism in America, New England sports history, and Victorian scandals.

Image of Dragur Reis

First Impressions: 19th Century New Englanders and the Origins of American Perceptions of Islam

Philip Crossman tells the story of Middlebury College graduates Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons, who set out to the Middle East to serve as Christian missionaries in the Islamic world in 1819.