Conrad E. Wright Research Conference
June 25 to 27, 2026
RECONSTRUCTION
This conference will showcase some of the latest scholarship about the period of Reconstruction, an era of remarkable advancements in civil rights, technology, immigration, government structure, domestic policy, and international affairs. The era, however, was also marked by violence, land displacement, terrorism, corruption, labor exploitation, and political retrenchment. Previous generations of scholars have generally argued that Reconstruction came to a close after the contested presidential election of 1876—150 years ago this year—when President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes agreed to remove the last federal troops from the former states of the Confederacy. The discussions over the course of this conference will examine a host of topics related to Reconstruction and also consider how educators might raise ideas related to the study of this pivotal period in their classrooms.
The Conrad E. Wright Conference series was endowed by The Honorable Levin H. Campbell in honor of Conrad Edick Wright, former Director of Research and Sibley Editor.
We give special thanks to our Conference Steering Committee:
April Holm, University of Mississippi
Caroline Janney, University of Virginia
Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College
Rachel A. Shelden, Penn State
Manisha Sinha, University of Connecticut
Peter Wirzbicki, Princeton University
The conference sessions and teacher workshop will take place in Boston at the Massachusetts Historical Society and Suffolk University. The panels and presentations are on June 25 and 26. The workshop is on June 27 (see pages 12-13). The schedule of academic panels is below.
THURSDAY,
JUNE 25
Massachusetts Historical Society 1154 Boylston Street, Boston
3:00 – 4:30 pm
Registration / Reception
Location: MHS, Dowse Library
4:30 – 5:45 pm
Keynote Panel
Location: MHS, Red Room (and streaming via Zoom)
Presenters:
• Manisha Sinha, University of Connecticut
• Michael Vorenberg, Brown University
Moderator: Rachel Shelden, Penn State
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Suffolk University, Sargent Hall 120 Tremont Street, Boston
9:00 - 10:15 am
Teacher Plenary Session
Location: Room 295
Presenters and attendees from the conference are welcome to attend this plenary session.
Presenters:
• Tanisha L. Milton, TechBoston Academy
• J. Malcolm Cawthorne, Public Schools of Brookline METCO Director; formerly of Brookline High School
• Rachel Williams-Giordano, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
10:15 – 10:30 am
Break
10:30 - 11:45 am
Panel 1: Legal History
Location: Room 285
Presenters:
• Jeanine Alvarez, University of Pennsylvania, “Private Law, Race, and Adjudication in the Freedmen’s Bureau Courts”
• Cynthia Nicoletti, University of Virginia,“The Power of the Purse and the Power of the Pardon: The Administration of Property Restoration in Andrew Johnson’s Treasury Department”
• Peter Wirzbicki, Princeton University, “Rights and Duties in the Political Thought of John Mercer Langston”
Commenter: Leslie S. Rowland, University of Maryland
Panel 2: Reconstruction International, Part 1: Mexico & the Caribbean
Location: Room 295
Presenters:
• Gerard Llorens DeCesaris, Princeton University, “Antislavery Imperialism and the Politics of Reconstruction”
• Sarah Rodriguez, Florida Gulf Coast University, “Sovereignty, Citizenship, and Constitutional Transformation in 19th Century North America”
• James Shinn, University of South Carolina Beaufort, “Missionary Nation: Republican Visions of U.S. Foreign Policy after the Civil War”
Commenter: Evan Rothera, Sam Houston State University
11:45 am – 1:30 pm
Lunch (see page 10 for a list of area restaurants)
1:30 – 2:45 pm
Panel 3: Into the West
Location: Room 285
Presenters:
• Mycah Conner, Boston College, “Beyond ‘Rehearsals’ and ‘Experiments’: Forcible Relocation, Finality, and Freedpeople’s Ordeals in Texas”
• Hilary Green, Davidson College, “Chasing Reconstruction’s Promise in Alaska: The Experiences of Two USCT Civil War Veterans”
• Guy Emerson Mount, Wake Forest University, “The (Pacific) Rehearsal for Reconstruction: How New England Abolitionists Built an Empire in Hawai’i”
Commenter: Megan Kate Nelson, historian and writer
Panel 4: What If?
Location: Room 295
Presenters:
• Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College, “Had Lincoln Lived: The First 284 Days of Reconstruction”
• Andrew L. Slap, East Tennessee State University, “Historians’ Reconstruction of Reconstruction: How Changing the Chronological and Geographical Definitions of Reconstruction Reshapes Scholarly Interpretations”
• Ella Starkman-Hynes, Yale University, “Rewriting Reconstruction: Counterfactuals and Memory in the Postbellum United States”
Commenter: Chandra Manning, Georgetown University
2:45 – 3:00 pm
Break
Restaurants Near Suffolk University
Fast Food
Burger King (V, VE)
128 Tremont St., Boston, MA
1-minute walk
The Corner Mall Food Experience (V, VE)
1-99 Music Hall Pl., Boston, MA
5-minute walk
Lambert’s Marketplace (V)
140 Tremont St., Boston, MA
2-minute walk
McDonald’s (V)
146 Tremont St., Boston, MA
3-minute walk
Potbelly Sandwich Shop (V)
263 Washington St., Boston, MA
4-minute walk
Sweetgreen (V, VE)
13 School St., Boston, MA
3-minute walk
Dine In or Take Out
Bakey (V)
151 Tremont St., Boston, MA 4-minute walk
Black Seed Halal Grill (V, VE)
140 Tremont St., Boston, MA
1-minute walk
Herrera’s (V)
11 Temple Pl., Boston, MA
4-minute walk
Sam LaGrassa’s (V, VE)
44 Province St., Boston, MA 3-minute walk
Taco Azul (V, VE)
21 Beacon St., Boston, MA 2-minute walk
Zen Japanese Grill and Sushi Bar
21A Beacon St., Boston, MA
2-minute walk
Dine In Back Deck (V)
2 West St., Boston, MA 5-minute walk
Folio (V, VE)
14A Beacon St., Boston, MA
2-minute walk
French Quarter (V)
545 Washington St., Boston, MA
6-minute walk
JiangNan Boston (V, VE)
177 Tremont St., Boston, MA
6-minute walk
V = vegetarian options; VE = vegan options
3:00 – 4:15 pm
Panel 5: Reconstruction International, Part 2: Age of Empire
Location: Room 285
Presenters:
• Andre Fleche, Castleton University, “From Petersburg to Panama: Nathan Appleton Jr. and the Imperialist Legacies of the American Civil War”
• Samantha Leigh Payne, College of Charleston, “How U.S. Reconstruction Shaped the Brazilian Plan for Black Disfranchisement, 1867-1881”
• Roberto Saba, Wesleyan University, “The Reconstruction of the Global South: American Capital and Expertise in the Age of Empire”
Commenter: Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Louisiana State University
Panel 6: On the Ground with Reconstruction
Location: Room 295
Presenters:
• Kate Birkbeck, Yale University, “The Resumption of the Arms Trade and The End of Reconstruction”
• Amanda Huse, University of California Santa Cruz, “Between the Edges of Community: Women and Social Networks of Violence in Reconstruction Georgia”
• Isobel Plowright, Vassar College, “Labor and the Currency Question During Reconstruction”
Commenter: Ryan Quintana, Wellesley College
K-12 educators are invited to attend the conference and a teacher workshop led by MHS education staff. The teacher workshop encompasses a prelecture with Dr. Manisha Sinha on June 24, conference sessions on June 25 and 26, and a day-long workshop on June 27.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston
9:00 Am – 4:00 pm
Reconstruction History and Legacy
Join the Massachusetts Historical Society to explore what Reconstruction looked for Black Americans in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and ensuing years.
On Saturday, K–12 educators and scholars will identify important takeaways from the conference, reflect on the accessibility of current scholarship for the K–12 classroom, and discuss best practices for introducing these themes to students. We will explore Reconstruction through a variety of primary sources, including political cartoons, images, first-person accounts, maps, and speeches, developing strategies for incorporating this history into US History, Civics, and ELA classrooms.
We will also discuss how the history of Reconstruction can be told through political, social, and economic lenses. We will be joined by Dr. Manisha Sinha and scholar Ella Starkman-Hynes, who will help us explore how public memory of the Civil War shaped Reconstruction.
Lunch will be provided.
Registration Information
Teacher participants do not need to register separately for the conference events, as their workshop registration will cover their entire participation. Please email any questions to education@masshist.org.
While full participation in this professional development program is limited to K-12 educators, presenters and attendees from the conference are welcome to attend some or all of Saturday’s workshop to join in our conversations about Reconstruction in the K-12 sphere. Email education@masshist.org if you a scholar interested in attending on Saturday, June 27.
Educators have the opportunity to earn either 45 PDPs or 2 graduate credits from Worcester State University ( for an additional fee). Requirements for credit include attending a virtual lecture on June 24, conference sessions on June 25 and 26, the workshop on June 27, and a post-workshop virtual feedback session on August 8. Program coursework must be completed.
Gain a richer understanding of the history behind artifacts in the MHS collection as our hosts chat with staff and outside scholars in The Object of History.
Listen to historians speaking about why they entered the field and learn more about their current work in Historians & Their Histories.
Listen now at www.masshist.org/podcast or wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.
A Center for Learning and Engagement
Founded in 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society is an invaluable resource for American history, life, and culture. With millions of pages of manuscript letters, diaries, and other documents, as well as early newspapers, broadsides, artifacts, artwork, photographs, maps, and prints, the MHS offers a wide-ranging perspective on the United States from the earliest beginnings of the nation to the present day.
The Society hosts a variety of scholarly activities aimed at a cross-section of academics and members of the public. These include seminars, conferences, and grad student receptions, as well as a robust fellowship program.
MHS Library and Exhibition Hours
• Monday, and Wednesday through Friday, from 9:30 AM to 4:45 PM
• Tuesday from 9:30 AM to 7:45 PM (opens at 12:00 PM the second Tuesday of the month)
• Saturday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Library staff retrieves materials up to 45 minutes prior to closing. Reading room closes 15 minutes before the library. Scheduling an appointment is encouraged.
The last admission for exhibition visitors will be 45 minutes prior to closing.
Seminars
The MHS organizes seven seminar series. Presenters share their works in progress with scholars and members of the public. The steering committees for each series arrange for local commenters to provide feedback on chapter-length pieces.
• African American History Seminar
• L. Dennis and Susan R. Shapiro Digital History Seminar
• Dina G. Malgeri Modern American Society and Culture Seminar
• Environmental History Seminar
• History of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Seminar
• New England Biography Series
• Pauline Maier Early American History Seminar
Research Fellowships
The MHS supports over 50 fellowships per year including
• the New England Regional Fellowship Consortium for research at 30 New England archives and research libraries;
• the Suzanne and Caleb Loring Fellowship on the Civil War, Its Origins, and Consequences for research at the MHS and the Boston Athenæum;
• short-term fellowships for research in a range of topics such as African American, religious, women’s, and military history among others.
Massachusetts Historical Review
The Massachusetts Historical Review (MHR) , our scholarly journal, offers pieces rich in narrative detail and thoughtful analysis. Each issue focuses on a specific theme linked to a particular event in Massachusetts history. Essays themselves need not be limited to Massachusetts or New England history as long as they connect to the theme of the volume.
Learn more at www.masshist.org or by scanning the QR codes below.