The News Media and the Making of America, 1730-1800

FAIN: ES-267131-19

American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA 01609-1634)
James David Moran (Project Director: February 2019 to October 2022)
David P. Nord (Co Project Director: October 2019 to October 2022)

A one-week summer institute for 25 middle and high school educators on the news media in the revolutionary era.

The News Media and the Making of America, 1730–1800 is a one-week Summer Institute for 25 school teachers teaching grades 5–12 offered by the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) in the summer of 2020. This Institute is both a colloquium and a hands-on workshop that will explore how news media—in all its various forms—was connected to civic engagement and how media fit into the public and private lives of the American people. The academic fields that inform the Institute include early American history as well as the history of journalism, readers and reading. The colonial period and the era of the American Revolution are part of every K-12 curriculum, and this Institute will provide participants with a unique and relevant way to approach that material. With many states increasing their emphasis on civics and media literacy, studying the founding of the country through the lens of news media will help teachers help their students to see their own media lives in historical perspective.

Associated Products

Some Characteristics of Colonial American Newspapers (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Some Characteristics of Colonial American Newspapers
Writer: Vincent Golden
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: In this video conversation, Vincent Golden, the curator of newspapers and periodicals at the American Antiquarian Society, talks about how colonial American printers gathered, printed, and distributed the news. View images of items featured in the video at: https://www.americanantiquarian.org/some-characteristics-colonial-american-newspapers-0
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://youtu.be/xIGEIGDAcig
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

The Format of Colonial American Newspapers (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The Format of Colonial American Newspapers
Writer: Vincent Golden
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: Vincent Golden, curator of newspapers and periodicals at the American Antiquarian Society, discusses the size, format, and features of early American newspapers.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.americanantiquarian.org/format-colonial-american-newspapers
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

Printmaking in 18th Century America (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Printmaking in 18th Century America
Writer: Lauren B. Hewes
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: In this video, Lauren Hewes, the Society’s vice president for collections, introduces several types of 18th-century paper ephemera that include pictorial design elements. Broadsides, trade cards, and billheads are among the types of ephemera featured.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.americanantiquarian.org/printmaking-eighteenth-century
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

American Broadsides and Ephemera Before 1800 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: American Broadsides and Ephemera Before 1800
Writer: Lauren Hewes
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: In this video, Lauren Hewes, the Society’s vice president for collections, introduces several types of eighteenth-century paper ephemera that include pictorial design elements. Broadsides, trade cards, and billheads are among the types of ephemera featured.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://youtu.be/XG2G3szTaTY
Primary URL Description: AAS YouTube channel
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

The Who and What of American Print Culture in the 1700s (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The Who and What of American Print Culture in the 1700s
Writer: Elizabeth Watts Pope
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: In this video, Elizabeth Watts Pope, the Society’s curator of books and digital collections, introduces who was involved in American colonial printing and what kinds of materials they produced.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEm6aMGoGWs
Primary URL Description: AAS YouTube channel
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

The When and Where of American Print Culture in the 1700s (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The When and Where of American Print Culture in the 1700s
Writer: Elizabeth Watts Pope
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: In this video, Elizabeth Watts Pope, the Society’s curator of books and digital collections, introduces when and where printing began in colonial America and how it developed over the course of the eighteenth century.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ4oB9ANPr8
Primary URL Description: AAS YouTube channel
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

Isaiah Thomas's Printing Press (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Isaiah Thomas's Printing Press
Writer: James David Moran
Director: James David Moran
Producer: Nathan Fiske
Abstract: Jim Moran, AAS vice president for programs and outreach, introduces Isaiah Thomas's eighteenth-century printing press used to print the first eyewitness account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUq2l6CtpY
Primary URL Description: AAS YouTube Channel
Access Model: Open access
Format: Video
Format: Web

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