Discovering History Through Tangible Objects

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, 300th Anniversary University Professor Emerita at Harvard University, has transformed our understanding of early American women's lives and material culture through groundbreaking scholarship spanning five decades. After earning degrees from the University of Utah (BA, 1960), Simmons College (MA, 1971), and University of New Hampshire (PhD, 1980), she rose from teaching at a small New Hampshire college to become one of America's most influential historians. Her 1990 book "A Midwife's Tale" earned both the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize, while her casual observation that "well-behaved women seldom make history" evolved from a scholarly article into a cultural phenomenon. As James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard (1995-2018), she pioneered innovative approaches to studying ordinary lives through material objects, exemplified in works like "The Age of Homespun" and "Good Wives." Her achievements include a MacArthur Fellowship (1992), membership in the American Philosophical Society (2003), and presidency of both the American Historical Association (2009) and Mormon History Association (2014). Through her scholarship examining diaries, household inventories, textiles, and other material artifacts, she has illuminated the previously hidden lives of early American women while mentoring generations of historians in new methodological approaches.

Sarah Anne Carter, Executive Director of the Center for Design and Material Culture and Associate Professor in Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has transformed understanding of material culture and museum studies. After earning multiple degrees from Harvard University, including a Ph.D. in American Studies, and an MA from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware, she has built an influential career spanning academia and museum curation. Her groundbreaking book "Object Lessons: How Nineteenth-Century Americans Learned to Make Sense of the Material World" (Oxford, 2018) revolutionized understanding of material culture education. As former Curator and Director of Research at the Chipstone Foundation, she pioneered innovative exhibition approaches and directed the Think Tank Program supporting progressive curatorial practices. Her interdisciplinary scholarship explores museums, childhood, domestic interiors, and American social life, while her current work includes developing "Museum Feelings," examining the emotional history of American museums. Through her leadership at the Center for Design and Material Culture, she continues to shape understanding of material culture while mentoring the next generation of scholars and curators.

Ivan Gaskell, Professor of Cultural History and Museum Studies at Bard Graduate Center, has transformed understanding of material culture through his interdisciplinary approach spanning history, art history, anthropology, and philosophy. After his early academic career at Cambridge University, he spent twenty years at Harvard University (1991-2011) as curator at the Fogg Art Museum while teaching in the History Department. His influential works include "Vermeer's Wager" and "The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection," while his scholarly contributions extend to sixteen books as author, editor, or co-editor. His innovative research mobilizes non-written historical traces to illuminate overlooked aspects of human experience, from Dutch Golden Age paintings to Native American artifacts. As co-editor with Salim Kemal of the Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and the Arts series, he helped establish new frameworks for understanding material culture. His curatorial work includes numerous experimental exhibitions, while his recent scholarship explores decolonizing aesthetics and the role of empathy in museum practice. Through his teaching and research at Bard Graduate Center, he continues to bridge theoretical and practical approaches to cultural history.

Sara J. Schechner, the David P. Wheatland Curator of Harvard's Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, has transformed understanding of scientific material culture and its history. After earning her Ph.D. in History of Science from Harvard in 1988, following degrees from Cambridge University and Harvard-Radcliffe, she has built an extraordinary career bridging museum curation and academic scholarship. As curator of one of the world's largest university collections of scientific instruments, containing over 20,000 objects, she has revolutionized the preservation and interpretation of scientific heritage. Her influential works include "Comets, Popular Culture, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology" and "Western Astrolabes," while her curatorial expertise has shaped numerous groundbreaking exhibitions exploring the intersection of science, society, and material culture. Her achievements have earned prestigious recognitions including the Paul Bunge Prize for History of Scientific Instruments and Legacy Fellow status from the American Astronomical Society. Through her leadership at Harvard's Department of History of Science and Museum Studies program, she continues to innovate in connecting historical instruments to broader cultural narratives while mentoring the next generation of curators and scholars.