Summer Speaker Series: Kate McMahon
August 18, 2026 | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
This event will take place at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor; 125 Townsend Ave, Boothbay Harbor, 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.
One Minute’s Freedom: Maine, Slavery, and the Promises of the American Revolution
The Declaration of Independence promised freedom and liberty for all, but the promises of the Declaration were at odds with the existence of slavery. This talk will explore the impacts of the American Revolution on enslavement in Maine, and the efforts of resistance and abolition by Black Mainers and their allies during the Revolutionary Era. We will also examine the contradictions of the abolition of slavery in the District of Maine in 1784 and the continued involvement of and investment in the global economies of enslavement during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
About the speaker
Dr. Kate McMahon is the Executive Director of the Castine Historical Society. She also serves on the Operational Committee of SlaveVoyages.org and is a co-founder and board member of Atlantic Black Box. She received her B.A. in Art History and M.A. in American and New England Studies from the University of Southern Maine. She completed her Ph.D. in History at Howard University in 2017. Her dissertation was entitled The Transnational Dimensions of Africans and African Americans in Northern New England, 1776-1865. Her current research explores New England’s connections to and complicity in the illegal slave trade and colonialism, 1809-1900. She is committed to exploring the living legacies of slavery and the slave trade in the present day and interpreting this history for a broad public through frequent public speaking engagements and scholarly production.
Thank you to our co-sponsor, the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor!
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
James Tanzer: Thursday, July 30 at 6 PM at the American Legion Post #36 (Boothbay)
Osihkiyol Crofton-Macdonald: Wednesday, September 2 at 6 PM at the Harbor Theater
