Scholarship on American art of the 18th and 19th centuries has proliferated dramatically in the last decade and yet very little has been written on the materials, methods, and settings of painting. This one-day event will delve into some of the workshops, studios, schoolrooms, and parlors where New Englanders of all kinds used a wide variety of materials, such as pencil and pigments on canvas, silk, glass, wood, and tin to create painted images and decorations for themselves, for sale, and for public display. Participants will learn about the daily lives of New England's diverse artists and artisans and the painted objects—from studio art to school girl art and painted decorative arts—that they produced and distributed between 1700 and 1850.

Participants in this workshop will learn about the role of chocolate in colonial America. Topics include cacao and rainforest ecology, world trade, the role of chocolate in the colonial diet, and military uses of chocolate. The day includes a presentation of the new exhibition "Stimulating Beverages: Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate Wares at Historic Deerfield," an open-hearth cooking demonstration, and a tasting of American Heritage Chocolate® Finely Grated Chocolate Drink, which captures the form and flavor of historic chocolate.

Today a common beverage worldwide, tea was once a precious imported commodity. This presentation will introduce the geographic and botanical origins of tea, the role of trade in bringing tea from China to Western consumers, the social and cultural role of tea in 18th-century New England, and the period equipment and furnishings commonly used to prepare and serve tea in a place such as Deerfield, Massachusetts. The day includes a presentation, a tour of the new exhibition "Stimulating Beverages: Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate Wares at Historic Deerfield," a house tour, and a serving of tea.

These seminars are offered to encourage teachers to seriously examine significant events in American history in light of the principles of the American founding, and also to encourage the use of primary source materials in the classroom. The seminars, which include both lecture and discussion, are taught by leading scholars in their field from throughout the nation.

Participants in this workshop will learn how to use artworks as primary sources in their classrooms to teach American history and critical thinking. This workshop brings together the best of the Young America and Westward Expansion eras featured in SAAM's school programs. Both activity ideas as preparation for a tour or as stand-alone classroom lessons will be covered.

This final session in the series features a talk from University of California, Davis historian Clarence Walker and lessons presented by three teachers.

Participants will learn to think like a historian and encounter Native Americans and explorers through primary sources, legends, storytelling, and expository and narrative writing. Participants will each receive instructional materials such as model lessons, maps, primary source materials, and literature.

Participants will learn to think like a historian and encounter Native Americans and explorers through primary sources, legends, storytelling, and expository and narrative writing. Participants will each receive instructional materials such as model lessons, maps, primary source materials, and literature.

Participants will learn to think like a historian and encounter Native Americans and explorers through primary sources, legends, storytelling, and expository and narrative writing. Participants will each receive instructional materials such as model lessons, maps, primary source materials, and literature.

This workshop explores the questions "In 1690, to what extent were the arts and material culture of the British Atlantic colonies 'American?,' "To what extent were they 'American' by 1789?," "What major factors defined the evolution in American arts and material culture in this period?," and "To what extent did this evolution reflect the changing self-image of Americans?"