Valley Forge Park Alliance - November 24, 2020
Virtual Speaker Series!
Tuesday, December 1
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Professor Elizabeth Fenn, CU Boulder
Tuesday, December 1 - Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer-Prize winner and Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder

Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82
 
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
 
Pricing: VFPA Members: $8.00
Non-Members: $12.00
 
Sponsored by the Sherrin H. and Bruce A. Baky Foundation


Talk Description:
When the American Revolution began, a horrifying smallpox epidemic swept across the Americas. This continent-wide epidemic of variola affected the outcome of the American War for Independence and had far-reaching consequences for the lives of everyone in North America.

A series of cascading public-health crises began in 1775, with American soldiers camped outside Boston. Smallpox devastated the Continental Army, fracturing the American troops at Québec and running through the ranks of soldiers outside Boston. The disease ravaged the population of runaway slaves who sought protection with the British Army in Virginia. 

In the winter of 1777-1778, during the Valley Forge encampment, Washington struggled with the decision to inoculate his troops—the first largescale state-sponsored campaign of its kind. By 1779, the epidemic began to spread along the east coast and into the interior of North America. The Creeks and Cherokees of Georgia, Spanish colonials in Mexico City, pueblos in Alto California, and Native American communities along the Pacific Coast were all affected by this Continent-wide human tragedy. 

Speaker Biography:
Elizabeth Fenn is a Distinguished Professor of Early American and Native American History at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She earned her B.A. at Duke University and her Ph.D. at Yale. Fenn famously traded wrenches for writing, leaving behind her eight-year career as an auto mechanic to complete her Ph.D.—the dissertation that formed the basis for Pox Americana.

Fenn received the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in History for her study on Mandan Indian history from 1100 to 1845: Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People (Hill & Wang, 2014). For her work, Fenn received the 2019 Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her current research interests lie in “the Indigenous history of the early West, especially before 1848.” Fenn’s latest study is a microhistory focused on Sacagawea—using her life story to illuminate the wider history of the northern plains and Rockies. 

Moderator Biography:
Robert D. Hicks, PhD is Senior Consulting Scholar and William Maul Measey Chair for the History of Medicine of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. For over a decade he served as director of the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library at the College. He holds a doctorate in history from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, and degrees in anthropology and archaeology from the University of Arizona. His most recent book, Civil War Medicine: A Surgeon’s Experience, appeared in 2019 by Indiana University Press.

Support the Valley Forge Park Alliance as your charity, and purchase Pox Americana on Amazon Smile! Note: you must be signed into your Amazon Smile account and chose the Valley Forge Park Alliance as your supporting charity. Click here for more information on signing up for Amazon Smile!

Click here for the Amazon sale page for Pox Americana.
Wreath Sponsorship Deadline Is Monday, November 30
On Saturday, December 19the Valley Forge Park Alliance in partnership with the Descendants of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge, will be honoring the soldiers of the American Revolution who perished during the Valley Forge Encampment with an invitation only Wreaths Across America ceremony.


Sponsor a wreath!
Please help us honor and remember as many fallen heroes as possible by sponsoring remembrance wreaths through our sponsorship page.
 
For every wreath sponsored, the Valley Forge Park Alliance will receive $5 to further our mission to support Valley Forge National Historical Park. Please help us reach our goal of 100 wreaths. Order deadline is Monday, November 30.
Hay Bales In Valley Forge National Historical Park
Have you noticed the hay bales scattered throughout the park lately?

The bales are a part of an ongoing project that helps manage the park grasslands for bio-diversity.

Haying has a similar effect as fire as it removes the thatch taking away nutrients for non-native plant species, and it provides bald spots needed for some bird species.

Not all fields will be hayed. Some will be left to provide winter cover for wildlife. These hay bales will be used in local mushroom farms not for animal feed. Mushroom hay can be harvested later than feed hay. This allows fields to be cut after grass seeds have matured and nesting birds and other young wildlife have moved out.

Photo credit: Steve Thum
Give back this holiday season with a Corporate Matching Gift!
Multiply the impact of your contribution by obtaining an Employee Matching Gift Form from your employer.

When combined with your generous donation, these gifts can double or triple resources to support the Park.

Check to see if your company participates in a matching gift program by clicking here.

Completed forms can be mailed to: The Valley Forge Park Alliance: P.O. Box 117, Valley Forge, PA 19481 or sent by email to info@vfparkalliance.org.
Donate Today! Text WASHINGTON to 565-12