Historic Deerfield, Winter Lecture Series

The 2025 Winter Lecture Series will take place on Zoom from 2-3pm on the following Sundays: January 26, February 23, March 30, April 27. Lectures are free, but registration is required.

Early New Englanders frequently invoked the passage of time in religious terms, but the “horological revolution” of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries produced technological developments in timepieces that complemented older cultural views of time. These developments went on to play an important role in the standardization of timekeeping, the rise of market economies, and industrialization. Sundials, mechanical clocks, and pocket watches were not only scientific marvels but also style-bearing objects that displayed refinement. Such objects provide suggestive windows into everyday life, especially when we broaden our sense of the many different objects and practices that marked the passage of time for diverse early Americans. This series features speakers who will address both the abstract and material nature of time found not only in clocks but also in other objects and processes central to life in early New England such as brewing, needlework, husbandry, farming, and cooking. Together the presentations will complicate our sense of what the passage of time meant for early New Englanders who had more than one way to “keep” and “spend” time.  All lectures are free of charge and will be presented virtually via Zoom webinar.

Sunday, January 26, 2 p.m. – Bob Frishman, Horology professional and scholar

For our first lecture on January 26th, horology scholar Bob Frishman will present, “Edward Duffield and Colonial American Clockmaking.” Frishman’s book, Edward Duffield: Philadelphia Clockmaker, Citizen, Gentleman 1730–1803, was published by the American Philosophical Society Press in 2024.

Frishman has professionally repaired nearly 8,000 timepieces. In recent years, he has reduced his clock-repair activities and now devotes his time to research, writing, and lecturing. He was an organizer of the 2019 “Time Made in Germany” international symposium in Nuremberg. He has published more than 100 articles and reviews in Maine Antique Digest and Watch & Clock Bulletin.

Sunday, February 23, 2 p.m. – Alexandra Macdonald, Ph.D. candidate in History at William & Mary

Sunday, March 30, 2 p.m. – Sara Schechner, Curator Emerita, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University

Sunday, April 27, 2 p.m. – Elizabeth Beacon Eager, Assistant Professor of Art History at Southern Methodist University

Register here.