After Walrussia Virtual Event

After Walrussia, 8/26 from 12:00-1:00 PM, Live on the Seward House Museum Facebook Page. 

Most visitors leave their tour of the Seward House Museum well-versed in the story of "Seward's Folly," Secretary of State William Seward's 1867 purchase of the Alaskan territories from Russia. They learn about Seward and Russian Ambassador Eduard de Stoeckl's late night dealings, Seward's steering the treaty through the U.S. Senate, and about all the major players involved in the politics of the transfer. But what about all the people in between empires whose lives were affected by negotiations and transactions struck a world away? In this illuminating presentation, Dr. Amanda Bosworth shares some of their stories, examining a borderlands maritime space that included the edges of America, Russia, Canada, and Japan. In particular, she follows sailors, naval seamen and officers, seal fur hunters, and traders who had to negotiate their own way through the spaces remapped by Seward.

Amanda Bosworth earned a PhD in History from Cornell University in 2020. She currently lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she'll be joining us for this program.