Harvard Historian presents America 250 Lecture in Leland
From staff reports
Nationally acclaimed historian and Harvard University professor Philip J. Deloria will present “Building a Nation in the Aftermath of Revolution: The Northwest Ordinance and the Creation of New American States” on Wednesday, July 22, at 6 pm at the Leland Public School Performing Arts Center. Hosted by the Leelanau Historical Society, the lecture is part of the Society’s America 250 programming commemorating the semiquincentennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
As the United States celebrates this anniversary, communities across the country are reflecting on the people, places, and ideas that shaped the nation. Deloria’s presentation will examine how the United States established policies for westward expansion following the American Revolution, focusing on legislation including the Land Ordinance of 1785, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the Trade and Intercourse Act of 1790. By placing these laws within their historical and geographic context, Deloria will explore the ambitions and contradictions that defined the early American republic and continue to influence the nation today.
“America 250 is an opportunity to look beyond familiar stories of the Revolution and explore how the nation took shape in the years that followed,” said Kim Kelderhouse, executive director of the Leelanau Historical Society. “Professor Deloria’s scholarship offers a deeper understanding of the policies that transformed the Great Lakes region and the lasting impact those decisions had on Indigenous communities, settlement, and the development of states like Michigan.”
Deloria is the Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History at Harvard University and one of the nation’s foremost scholars of American Indian history and culture. His research explores the social, cultural, and political relationships between Indigenous peoples and the United States, as well as Indigenous histories in a global context. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including Playing Indian, Indians in Unexpected Places, and Becoming Mary Sully: Toward an American Indian Abstract. Deloria has also served as president of several national historical organizations and as a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
The lecture is part of the Leelanau Historical Society’s yearlong America 250 programming, which connects the history of Leelanau County to the broader American story through exhibits, lectures, films, and educational programs.
The program is free and open to the public.
For additional information visit LeelanauHistory.org.
