Naval Gazing: Remembering the Maine and the Ordinary Origins of American Empire, 1898-1916
On the night of February 15, 1898 the battleship USS Maine suddenly exploded and sank in Havana. Two hundred sixty-six men were dead and the United States moved precipitously toward war with Spain. This presentation examines the ways commemorative practices surrounding the Maine reflected and cemented the public’s investment in the Navy, the state, and the American empire that emerged between 1898 and World War I, privileging ordinary Americans’ place in the nation’s rise to global power.
Professor Smith is author of To Master the Boundless Sea: The U.S. Navy, the Marine Environment, and the Cartography of Empire (UNC Press 2018).
Reception: 4:45
Talk: 5:30
Dinner: 6:30
Come between 4:45 and 5:00 if possible to enjoy the reception and the ensuing talk at 5:30, which is open to all. CAAS members and their guests must make reservations if they wish to attend the dinner.
CAAS members: email caas.membership@yale.edu if you did not receive, or cannot locate, your invitation email; and wish to make a dinner reservation.