Cowboys and Empire: Colonial Cattle Frontiers in New England

We invite CMCH members and visitors to join us for a brown bag lunch talk with Jared Lucky, PhD Candidate in History at Yale University.  Jared is a New England Regional Fellowship Consortium (NERFC) fellow who has been conducting research here this winter.

This comparative talk will explore an overlooked part of New England’s colonial past: the ways in which cattle, and the cattle herders we might today call “cowboys,” shaped European empires in America. Though it may seem surprising to search for cowboys in Massachusetts and Connecticut, recent movements in New England historiography have made this line of inquiry not just possible, but pressing.

Transient rural workers—often unfree, and sometimes of African or partially indigenous descent—played an important role in the booming early colonial cattle business. And yet little is known about these people, and the ways in which they contributed to social, economic, and political life in the colonies.  Focusing on the 17^th and early 18^th centuries, Jared is seeking to reexamine rural life in New England using insights gleaned from other cattle frontiers around the Atlantic.

Jared will share the results of his research at the CMCH with us during this informal presentation.

This program is free for CMCH members and included with admission for non-members. We will provide coffee and dessert; bring your lunch to enjoy during the talk. Please RSVP by Tuesday, March 31st by calling (860) 236-5621 x282 or emailing rsvp@chs.org.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Busa, Public Programs and Special Events Coordinator, at jennifer_busa@chs.org.

Image: “Cow Series”, Edwin Augustus Moore, 1880-1881, CMCH 2004.52.1-14