“New Knowledge of Lost Worlds”?

In contemporary academic circles, the fields of science, theology, and literature may be compartmentalized with relatively little interaction. However, such distinctions were less rigid in the early nineteenth century. One of the figures whose writings stretched across these disciplinary boundaries was Edward Hitchcock, a world-renowned geologist and president of Amherst College who also had extensive theological training. Now best-known among paleontologists for his discovery of fossil footprints in the Connecticut River Valley, Hitchcock made use of his considerable talents in an 1836 poem entitled “The Sandstone Bird.” This poem—often known to historians of science but little remarked among students of American literature—effectively uses formal verse to draw out theological dimensions to the prehistoric world conjured up by Hitchcock’s own paleontological discoveries.

The government’s role in creating an innovation ecosystem: the Springfield Armory as hub in the Connecticut River Valley

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate, through the example of the Springfield Armory and its role in the development of interchangeable parts, the critical role of government in establishing a cluster of organizations that evolved into an innovation ecosystem primarily located in the Connecticut River Valley in the 1800s. Using the Springfield Armory example, we use the related but largely unjoined concepts of ecosystem and networks to show that these organizational forms are effective in driving innovation. Design/methodology/approach The design uses an in-depth analysis of the role of the Springfield Armory to explicate the joining of network and ecosystem theory as an early example of the importance of governmental funding and support for innovation. Findings The development of interchangeable parts in the American arms industry in the 19th century transformed manufacturing worldwide. At the heart of this transformation was the network of arms makers that developed in the Connecticut River Valley as a direct result of US Government investment and support. This network of arms makers evolved into an ecosystem of mutually reinforcing relationships as machine tool manufacturers benefited from an environment of free-flowing intellectual property, information and growing governmental demand for arms. The Armory illustrates the government’s role in initiating and sustaining clusters of innovation that otherwise might not have developed as quickly. Originality/value Much of the research on the role of government in creating innovation ecosystems and organizational networks is based on modern organizations. This use of the Springfield Armory in the early 1800s broadens the knowledge on how innovation ecosystems in conjunction with networked organizations can be created by governments serving the public good.

Laying Down Heads in Written and Oral Composition

Chapter Two explores Joseph Smith's personal style of composition in relation to contemporary print conventions, as well as early American education and popular preaching methods and techniques. The chapter focuses on the method of "laying down heads," or the use of preliminary outlines to compose and deliver sermons. The chapter begins with a brief look at John Walker's popular system of composition in early American education, followed by an exploration of the techniques in relation to Congregationalist preaching styles practiced in the Connecticut River Valley, where Smith spent much of his childhood. Smith's older brother, Hyrum Smith, attended Moor's Indian Charity School, an institution created by Congregationalist preacher Eleazar Wheelock in conjunction with the formation of Dartmouth College. The preaching style taught at the school reflected the semi-extemporaneous style of the famous preacher, George Whitefield, and provides evidence of a Smith family member receiving formal instruction in preaching styles, delivery, and rhetorical performance.

The Captive’s Lament: Reinterpreting Rowlandson’s Narrative

This chapter presents a nuanced close reading of The Sovereignty and Goodness of God . . . A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, framed within Indigenous geographies. Although Rowlandson conveyed a picture of a forbidding wilderness, she traveled through an intricately mapped network of Indigenous people and places, including the Nipmuc interior and the Connecticut River Valley. This chapter provides an alternative map and narrative of Rowlandson’s “removes” through Native towns and territories and elucidates the ways in which the stories of Weetamoo, James Printer, and Mary Rowlandson intertwined. Shortly after the raid on her town of Lancaster, Rowlandson was carried to the Nipmuc stronghold of Menimesit, where she encountered James and his extended family, and was given to Weetamoo, whom she followed deep into the interior of Nipmuc and Sokoki countries, as the saunkskwa sought protective sanctuaries for Native families who were evading colonial troops.

The Printer’s Revolt: A Narrative of the Captivity of James the Printer

This chapter explores the beginning of King Philip’s War in the Nipmuc country, focusing not only on Native responses and resistance but also on the colonial drive toward containment, charged by fear of unknown spaces and increased racialization of “Indians.” The Nipmuc scholar James Printer and his mission community of Hassanamesit are a center from which the story spirals out to the broader Nipmuc country, the Connecticut River Valley, and Massachusetts colony. This chapter highlights Nipmuc gatherings at the sanctuary of Menimesit and the ambush and standoff at Quaboag, known as “Wheeler’s Surprise,” and the Brookfield siege, focusing on strategic Indigenous guerilla warfare tactics and environmental knowledge. It also focuses on Indigenous diplomacy, including the arrival of Metacom in Nipmuc country. James and his kin at first attempted to avoid any embroilment in the burgeoning war but soon found themselves drawn into the conflict, as scouts serving colonial companies and captives taken in colonial campaigns. This chapter conveys the context of James’s own captivity by Massachusetts forces and his imprisonment in Cambridge, the site of his earlier education.