I have been a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society for a long time. Every year I receive
the invitation to the Annual Meeting Gala Dinner, and we drool over the famous
speakers, and wish we could afford to go schmooze with the
esteemed genealogists at a luscious dinner in Back Bay. This year we read about a special opportunity
this same weekend, on Sunday April 22, 2012, named the 2012 Annual Meeting Trustee Seminar. It was a chance to spend from 9:30 in the morning
until 5 in the afternoon with Roger Thompson.
The only Roger Thompson book I had previously read was Sex
in Middlesex: Popular Mores in a Massachusetts County, 1649 – 1699. I had used it for reference when I looked up
an ancestor, and I read the entire book because was written so well and the
stories were so compelling (and the title was so interesting, too!) I knew he had written other books, and the
Middlesex County book as well as three others were the subject of his
seminar. Two of these had been published
and advertised by NEHGS journals and flyers.
His other books were about the Middlesex Towns of Cambridge and
Watertown, and the neighboring town of Charlestown in Suffolk County.
I have several ancestors from the early days in these towns,
and I was curious about the subject matter and time period advertised in the
advertising for these books. It was
interesting to me to spend an entire day listening to one author, so I signed
up for the seminar. It would be five
lectures for $85, which seemed like a reasonable price.
Roger Thompson is emeritus professor at the University of
East Anglia, Norwich, England. He taught
American Colonial History for thirty years, and is married to an American. He has written ten books, including the one
on Middlesex County, as well as the books about the Middlesex Towns of
Cambridge and Watertown, and the neighboring town of Charlestown in Suffolk
County. During his discussion of these
four books he also mentioned a book on East Anglia migration to New England. I’ll list all the titles below.
Too bad for you if you missed this seminar on Sunday, April
22nd! You missed a great day! Roger is such a compelling story
teller that the whole day slipped by before I knew it, and suddenly it was 5 PM
and time to go home. He kept his
audience captivated, including my husband who had tagged along and thought he
could sneak in an after lunch siesta.
For one man to keep everyone interested without the use of a single
illustration or power point image is a real achievement. His engaging speaking style translates to his writing,
and so although his books look like textbooks you would find them very readable.
I sat near several members of the NEHGS board of trustees
and councilors. One or two explained to
me that they take suggestions from members very seriously. Earlier in the year one of them heard Roger
Thompson speak in England, and thus NEHGS brought him all the way from East Anglia
to Boston for this seminar. The
recommendation was taken seriously, and the invitation was extended to all
members as an all day event. I suggest that next time you
hear about one of these seminars you should take advantage and attend!
My non-genealogist husband bought all four of Roger’s books!
These four books were the subjects of Roger Thompson’s
series of lectures:
Cambridge Cameos: Stories of Life in Seventeenth-Century New England, NEHGS, 2005
Divided We Stand: Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630 – 1680,
University of Massachusetts Press, 2001
From Deference to Defiance: Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629 – 1692,
NEHGS, 2012
Sex in Middlesex: Popular Mores in a Massachusetts County, 1649 – 1699,
University of Massachusetts Press, 1986
Other books by Roger Thompson mentioned at this seminar:
Mobility and Migration: East Anglian Founders of New England, 1629 –
1640, University of Massachusetts, 2009
Women in Stuart England and America: A Comparative Study, Routledge
and K. Paul, 1974
The New England Historic Genealogical Society www.americanancestors.org
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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
I would have love to have gone. And I would love to buy all his books! How many people turned up? Glad you enjoyed the day!
ReplyDeleteMarian, it was an excellent rainy day event! His books were heavily discounted, and sold out before lunch. He was very gracious and autographed all of my books, too, during one of the breaks. There were many people, which is why they changed the location from the NEHGS rotunda to the New England Center a few blocks away. Most of the seats in the auditorium were taken.
ReplyDeleteNo PowerPoint, no naps!!! That's the amazing thing to me. Heck, I nod off 10 minutes into the sermon every Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI have Sex in Middlesex, will look at the others since I have those towns in abundance.
All those books are indexed in my New Englanders of the 1600s, FYI.
ReplyDelete