In February 1898, the battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor, killing 266 American sailors. A short, decisive war with Spain ensued, and America acquired Spain’s empire in the Caribbean and Pacific. The horrific disaster and the crew’s pitiful fate seized the American imagination, generating unprecedented curiosity and pathos. Minstrel shows, motion pictures, consumer products and cocktails proliferated, capitalizing on the Maine “brand.” Collectors sought and bought “genuine” pieces of the ship; more than 1500 memorials were erected nationwide. This singular event was spun into a myth of naval power in the service of American exceptionalism. Jason Smith explores the cultural significance of this event.
Jason W. Smith is associate professor of History at Southern Connecticut State University, where he teaches courses in maritime and military history, the Early Republic and Civil War, nineteenth-century America, the history of technology, and the history of New Haven. He is the author of numerous articles in naval and maritime history as well as the book To Master the Boundless Sea: The U.S. Navy, the Marine Environment, and the Cartography of Empire. His current book project is a cultural history of navalism and its resonance among the American public at the turn-of-the-twentieth century. He lives in Hamden with his wife, daughter, and two mischievous cats.
Friday, Oct. 17 | 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m. | The McAuley (off campus/West Hartford) | $20
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