Summer Speaker Series: James Tanzer
July 30, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
This event will take place at the American Legion Post #36; 25 Industrial Park Rd, Boothbay, ME.
Maine Historical Society’s Statewide Tour of the Declaration of Independence arrives in the Boothbay Region on July 24–25, where it will be on view at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. Reserve your spot here.
In conjunction with this auspicious event, Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, in partnership with organizations around the area, will offer a Summer Speaker Series focusing on the time of the writing of the Declaration and the many triumphs of and challenges facing the people of this land.
Life & Liberty: Enslaved Residents of Historical Lincoln County on the Eve of Independence
In the summer of 1776, the Continental Congress wrote of the “unalienable” rights of life and liberty, boldly declaring the American colonies’ independence from Great Britain. But what of the many people in the colonies who possessed neither a right to their own lives nor to liberty: the enslaved? This talk explores how Quash Winchell, London Attus, and Boston Miller, all enslaved in 18th-century Lincoln County, navigated the tumultuous and revolutionary 1770s and, like young America, determinedly pursued their own paths to freedom.
About the speaker
James Tanzer is the Special Collections Research Services Librarian at Bowdoin College’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives. He holds a B. A. in history from Smith College and an M. A. in medieval history from the University of Toronto. His current research focuses on the Black history of 18th-century Lincoln County, Maine.
Thank you to our co-sponsors, the American Legion Post #36!
This event is part of the Library Summer Speaker Series, made possible in part by our great community organization hosts. Join us for our other speaker series events:
Louise Miller: Wednesday, July 15 at 6 PM at the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor
Kate McMahon: Tuesday, August 18 at 6 PM at the Congregational Church
Osihkiyol Crofton-Macdonald: Wednesday, September 2 at 6 PM at the Harbor Theater
