Webcast: "We Gather Together"—Mary Baker Eddy and the Evolution of the Holidays in American Culture

Photo: Courtesy of The Mary Baker Eddy Collection

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About this webcast

There’s a tendency to think of Thanksgiving and Christmas in past generations as conforming to a Hallmark card, or Currier & Ives, portrayal. The real story is much more complex and multifaceted—and fascinating. In fact, within American society the holidays underwent profound transformation in the nineteenth century. This program will explore ways that Mary Baker Eddy’s views and practices relate to an unfolding story, helping to tell how culture, commerce, religion, and tradition intersect during the holiday season.

Panelists include Judy Huenneke, Senior Research Archivist at The Mary Baker Eddy Library, and Christopher Evans, Professor of the History of Christianity at the Boston University School of Theology.

Judy Huenneke has worked with the Library’s archival collections for over three decades. She has a longtime interest in Eddy’s holiday observances and their relationship to nineteenth-century New England (and American) culture.

Christopher Evans is the author of several books, including Histories of American Christianity: An Introduction (Baylor University Press, 2013) and Liberalism without Illusions: Renewing an American Christian Tradition (Baylor University Press, 2010). Evans teaches a course on the religious history of Boston, which includes a session on Eddy and the origins of the Christian Science movement in and around the the city.