Name: Rediscovering New England’s Iberian Ties, 1640s-c.1830 (in-person)
Start: 2025-11-08T13:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-08T17:30:00-05:00
Location: Marsh Hall

$Rediscovering New England\u2019s Iberian Ties, 1640s-c.1830 (in-person)$

Come explore the history and legacies of New England’s once-massive codfish trade with the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula.
About this Event

“To Drive a Great Trade for Bilbao:" Rediscovering New England’s Iberian Ties, 1640s-c.1830

Hosted by Salem State University’s History Department and presented in conjunction with the Marblehead Museum’s ongoing exhibition Bilbao Bound, this symposium brings together an international group of historians and curators to examine this largely forgotten aspect of New England's early history.

In light of the ongoing 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, special attention will be given to the role that trading connections between Boston's North Shore and the Spanish Basque port of Bilbao played in opening the door for Spanish Crown support for the American Revolution.

To register to attend online (starting 13:30 EST):

10:00-11:30 Curator-hosted exhibition visits, Marblehead Museum Donald C. Carleton, Jr.. Guest Curator, "Bilbao Bound: Rediscovering the North Shore's Iberian Odysseys"

12:00-13:30 Lunch on Your Own

Symposium in Petrowski Room, Marsh Hall, Salem State University

13:30-13:45 Greetings and Welcome

Brad Austin, Chair, History Department, Salem State University

Rafael Orbegozo Guzmán, Advisor to the Chairman, Iberdrola

13:45-14:05 Introduction

"James G. Lydon and the Rediscovery of New England's Iberian Trade(s)" Donald C. Carleton, Jr., Guest Curator, "Bilbao Bound"

14:15-15:45 New England and Iberia: Peoples, Ports, Perspectives

Moderator: Donald C. Carleton, Jr.

“Dowries of Cod and Prayers against Shipwreck: Women and their Atlantic World in the Early Modern Basque Country” Amanda L. Scott, Associate Professor of History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Pennsylvania State University

"El papel de cádiz en las primeras redes comerciales atlántico-mediterráneas de nueva inglaterra (1770–1820)" (“The Role of Cádiz in the early Atlantic-Mediterranean Commercial Networks of New England (1770–1820” Guadalupe Carrasco-Gonzalez, Profesora Titular, Universidad de Cádiz via Zoom

“Fish for Faience: Archaeological Evidence of Early New England’s Trade with Portugal" Emerson Baker, Professor of History, Salem State University

16:00-17:15 Yankees, Cod, Spain, and Revolution

Moderator: Dane Morrison, Professor Emeritus of Early American History, Salem State University

"Spain and the American Revolution: The View from Madrid" Larrie D. Ferreiro, George Mason University

"Fish to Firearms: How Lee, Gerry, and Gardoqui Helped Arm a Revolution" José Manuel Guerrero Acosta, Project Director and Curator, Spain and the Support for the American Revolution, a Project by Iberdrola

17:15-17:30 Concluding Remarks

Brad Austin, Chair, History Department, Salem State University

This program is part of an initiative to recover the history and legacies of New England’s Iberian ties bringing together the Marblehead Museum, the Itsasmuseum Bilbao, and the Salem State History Department. Symposium underwriting generously provided by the España Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Fundación Consejo España-EE.UU, the SSU History Department, American Ancestors, and generous private donations. Additional thanks to Iberdrola, S.A. for in-kind speaker travel.