"Does Technology Drive History?" with SUNY Associate Professor David Hochfelder

This event will be presented online ONLY.
It has been RESCHEDULED to Wednesday, June 17th and will be presented online, LIVE from the Main Gallery of the Charles River Museum 

Further information as to how to view will be made available soon.

"Does Technology Drive History?"

Robot pushing a reluctant man and woman into the future. From the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, which used the motto “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms.”

Technology has been central to human civilization from the beginning. Throughout most of our existence, technological and social changes happened slowly. However, this pace accelerated around the turn of the 19th century. Innovations like the steam engine, telegraphy, electrification, the automobile, the electronic mass media, and, lately, computing and information systems have transformed the ways in which we communicate, travel, work, and play.

The impact of technology on our everyday lives leads many of us to the conclusion that technology shapes society. In this conversation, we will explore the relationship between technological change and social change. We will pay particular attention to the telegraph, the first technology to harness electricity, and the first step toward today’s world of the Internet and smartphones.

Dave Hochfelder is associate professor of History at University at Albany, SUNY. Before earning his PhD in History at Case Western Reserve University, he earned a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920 (2012). He is presently working on a digital history of urban renewal (with Ann Pfau and Stacy Sewell) called Picturing Urban Renewal, for which they have received two National Endowment for the Humanities planning grants. They blog at https://98acresinalbany.wordpress.com/.

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The Mill Talks at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation are free and open to the public and are made possible by the generous support of the Lowell Institute.

Advance registration is strongly recommended; we cannot guarantee that space will be available the night of the event.

IMPORTANT DIRECTIONS AND PARKING INFORMATION FOR THE CHARLES RIVER MUSEUM

There is NO Museum Visitor Parking at the Francis Cabot Lowell Mill complex. You will be subject to tow by the Mill.

CHECK OUT OUR HANDY NEW DIRECTION/PARKING VIDEO

If you are coming to the Charles River Museum for the first time, it is helpful to follow the directions, map and advice below:
While the Museum’s address is 154 Moody St. in Waltham, we are not right on the street but rather at the far end of the Francis Cabot Lowell Mill complex.

Because there is no Museum Visitor parking at the Mill, we recommend using the many public lots in Waltham. The one closest and most accessible to the Museum is the Embassy Parking Facility off Pine St. Enter 42 Cooper St into your GPS to locate the entrance to the lot. To then reach the Museum, cross the footbridge which crosses the Charles River and then keep to your right along the Mill. A brief 2-5 minute walk will bring you to our Visitor Entrance. The Charles River Museum is directly under the factory smokestack. Please DO NOT BRING VEHICLES DOWN THE LANDRY WAY PATH. It is restricted to Emergency Vehicles ONLY and is a DEAD END with no turnaround.
If walking coming from Moody St itself, enter at the pathway immediately North of the Moody St Bridge next to Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. Follow to the right alongside the Charles River and down Landry Way along the river side of the Mill. If you need further assistance or information, the Museum phone number is 781-893-5410

We look forward to seeing you at the Museum!