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Experience military history from the Roman Empire, 1400 years before the birth of the United States this Saturday at the American Heritage Museum. The Legion III Cyrenaica living history group will be with us on Saturday, January 25th from 11am to 3pm to share with our visitors the history of ancient Rome, its military, and culture. They will be on hand to answer questions and interact with visitors throughout the day and is included with standard museum admission for the day. Learn more at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/the-romans-are-coming/ ... See MoreSee Less
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81 years ago today, the Anzio landing, part of Operation Shingle during WWII, began on Jan. 22, 1944, as Allied forces aimed to outflank German defenses and capture Rome. Allied troops initially achieved surprise but failed to push inland decisively, allowing German forces under Field Marshal Kesselring to reinforce. A brutal stalemate followed with heavy casualties. In May 1944, the Allies broke through, linking with southern forces and liberating Rome on June 4. Learn about the Italian Campaign in the WWII in Europe Gallery in the American Heritage Museum. ... See MoreSee Less
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The American Heritage Museum is open today! Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Open 10am to 5pm. ... See MoreSee Less
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Hello all good people! The American Heritage Museum will be open on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 20th, 10am to 5pm. We are looking forward to seeing you soon. ... See MoreSee Less
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Speaker Series: Botanical History of the Civil War by Judith Sumner

November 10, 2023 @ 2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm

$10 – $20

Canebrakes to Cotton Fields: Botanical History of the Civil War

As the first comprehensive botanical history of the Civil War, Judith Sumner’s recent book Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History examines military and civilian uses of plants, from plantation landscapes and agriculture to slave medicine, prosthetic limbs, and military engineering. Plants provided both the cash crops at the heart of the conflict and the raw material used in waging war. This illustrated talk will emphasize the key topics of crops and enslavement, plantation life, Civil War medicine, and southern landscapes and war—all illuminated from a botanical perspective.

Judith Sumner Biography 

Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods. Judith graduated from Vassar College and completed graduate studies (M.S., Ph.D.) in botany at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).  She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum.

Judith has published studies in the American Journal of Botany, Pollen et Spores, and Allertonia, as well as monographing two families for Flora Vitiensis Nova.  Her other projects and areas of interest have included field studies in the Great Smoky Mountains, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education. Judith served as a visiting scientist for several summers in the LEAP (Learning About Plants) program She has spent summers working with teachers the Museum Institutes for Teaching Science (MITS) program and conducting workshops on science writing.

Judith has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program “Cultivating Life” with Sean Conway, the Annenberg Channel, and various other PBS and educational programs.  Her recent Arnold Arboretum lecture on victory gardens is available for viewing online at the WGBH Forum website. Her column “The Gardener’s Kitchen” (under the pseudonym Laura Craig) appeared in Horticulture magazine for several years. She also contributes online to the blog and Herbarium website of the Herbal Academy of New England. Judith is a frequent invited lecturer for botanical and horticultural organizations and symposia, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the New York Botanical Garden, Mohonk Mountain Reserve, Cornell University, the FDR Library and National Archives, and Kykuit/The Rockefeller Estate.

In 2007 Judith was awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature by the Herb Society of America. Her book American Household Botany won the American Horticultural Society Book Award in 2005. She recently authored the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War: A Botanical History of World War II (McFarland, 2019). Her newest book, Plants in the Civil War: A Botanical History, was published in late 2022 by McFarland and has been shortlisted for the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries book award.

Details

Date:
November 10, 2023
Time:
2:00 pm, ending 3:30 pm
Cost:
$10 – $20
Event Category:
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OPEN MONDAY for MLK Day - Monday, January 20, 2025

We will be open on Monday, January 20th for Martin Luther King Jr. Day from 10am to 5pm. A great opportunity for families to visit on the school break. Buy tickets at the Admissions Desk or save $2 per ticket by buying online!