2026 ROCKWELL LECTURE: DR. DONALD A. SLATER

We are pleased to announce that this year's speaker is Dr. Donald A. Slater who will be speaking on Paul Revere and the Social Memory of the Pine Tree Shilling in Colonial Massachusetts. This timely topic for the nation's semiquincentennial will explore imagery from 17th  century Massachusetts silver coinage and a variety of 18th  century Massachusetts currency issues in an attempt to reconstruct the thinking of the local patriot and renaissance man, Paul Revere.

During the 17th  and 18th  century, colonists mistrusted paper money as an economic vehicle and instead preferred specie coinage for commerce.  Due to recurrent shortages of coinage in the colonies, and the need for colonial governments to fund certain activities, the issuance and usage of paper money was often a necessity.  Revere would have been well aware of the delicate economic situation at the start of the Revolutionary War and colonists' mistrust of paper currency.  Slater thus argues that, as Revere was the primary engraver and printer of Massachusetts paper currency from 1775-1779, he intentionally leveraged historically powerful pine tree visual imagery to help boost the economic legitimacy of paper currency amongst the populace.  

Dr. Slater earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology/archaeology at Brandeis University and his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.  Since 2002 he has held a variety of roles at Phillips Academy, Andover at the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology and the Department of History and Social Sciences.  His primary research focuses on the study of Colonial New England material culture, as well as the religion, cosmology, and iconography of the ancient Maya.  He has directed archaeological projects at local 17th  and 18th  century sites in Massachusetts, and in ceremonial caves in Yucatan, Mexico.   An educator at heart, at Phillips Academy, Slater teaches courses on US and World History, colonial burial grounds, ancient Maya cosmology, and he has led student expeditionary learning programs to Mesoamerica, Peru, the Arctic, the American Southwest, and throughout New England.  Most recently, Slater launched a new hands-on numismatics course that has culminated in small exhibits at the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Robert S. Peabody Institute. 

  For as long as Slater remembers, he has been interested in history.  He collects a wide array of objects (many of which he uses in his classes), but throughout his life, numismatics has always been his main collecting passion.  Slater began collecting coins over 40 years ago when he was about 5 years old.  He still owns the first coin that he remembers acquiring – a beat up 1859 first year Indian Head penny that his father bought for him at a local coin shop.  As a child, his preferred bedtime reading was often the Red Book where he was always most enamored with the rustic designs of Pine Tree coinage, Massachusetts coppers, and other colonial and early American issues.  Today, Slater's primary collecting focus remains colonial Massachusetts coinage and currency.  Beyond this, he collects other colonial paper, George Lovett 1860 witch tokens, objects featuring Native American imagery, and any other numismatic odds and ends that tell fascinating historical stories that can be used in the classroom.

Please join us at the New Light Korean Church 730 Main St (Rt.20) Waltham for an informative and enjoyable evening. The program will commence at 7:30 pm, the building will be open to socialize at 6:00 pm. In addition to the church, there should be sufficient on-street parking and across the street at the Waltham Library (after 6 PM). For further information please contact William Harkins at williamharkins@comcast.net.

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