"A Revolutionary Evening with the UMass Amherst Libraries"

“A Revolutionary Evening with UMass Amherst Libraries” will be held at the Boston Athenaeum, 10 1/2 Beacon Street, on May 5, 2011, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  The event will include a reception and author’s talk with UMass Amherst history professor Marla Miller about her most recent book, Betsy Ross and the Making of America.  

Marla Miller is director of the UMass Amherst Public History Program.  Betsy Ross and the Making of America (Holt, 2010) explores the legend of the famous flag-maker and illustrates how other ordinary citizens played a role in our country’s battle for independence.  “By turning a keen biographical eye on Betsy Ross, she illuminates the significant role that ordinary citizens—especially women—played in the birth of the new nation,” says Margaret Flanagan of Booklist.

Betsy Ross and the Making of America was a finalist for the Cundill Prize in History at McGill University (the world's largest non-fiction historical literature prize), and was named to the Washington Post’s “Best of 2010” list.  Miller is presently completing work on a microhistory of women, work, and landscape in Federal Massachusetts, and a short biography of Massachusetts gownmaker Rebecca Dickinson. 

At the event, the UMass Amherst Libraries will unveil a major Revolutionary-era gift of materials to Special Collections and University Archives.  Guests may also view an exhibit “Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey,” on display at the Athenaeum. 

The opening reception will feature light gourmet fare prepared by Le Fête Catering, thanks to UMass Amherst alumna Amy Colombi ’89.

Tickets are $15 per person.  To register online visit bit.ly/revolutionary_evening, or call 1-800-456-UMASS by April 27, 2011.

For more information on the event, contact Carol Connare at 413.545.0995 or cconnare@library.umass.edu.