For Goodfellow History Lecture, UC-Davis Prof to Focus on Creole Influence in the 13 Colonies

CHESTERTOWN, MD—John Smolenski, associate professor of history at the University of California, Davis, will deliver the annual Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 26, in Litrenta Lecture Hall, John S. Toll Science Center, on the Washington College campus (300 Washington Avenue). The talk is free and open to the public.

In his talk, Smolenski will highlight some of the commonalities the American colonies shared with other colonial outposts of the time. He has argued that the 13 colonies that eventually became the United States were, like their counterparts in Latin America and the Caribbean, creole societies that emerged as Old World habits, values, and practices were transformed in a New World setting.

Smolenski holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history from Yale University and a master’s in anthropology and doctorate in history from the University of Pennsylvania. His book Friends and Strangers (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010) traces the creation of a creole culture among Quakers during Pennsylvania's first five decades. It will be available for purchase at a book signing following the talk.

The Guy F. Goodfellow Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1989 to honor the memory of a history professor who taught at Washington College for three decades. Each year the series brings a distinguished historian to campus to lecture and spend time with students in emulation of Dr. Goodfellow’s vibrant teaching style.