About the lecture
On 7 October 1825, the Miramichi region of New Brunswick experienced one of the largest forest fires in recorded history while, next door, Maine suffered the most extensive fire in its history. The fires burned in the same environmental and climatic conditions, of course – and may well have been connected. Alan MacEachern will describe reconstructing the fire’s history, and discuss how the international border served as a cultural firebreak, dispersing the blaze and diminishing its renown in both the United States and Canada.
yAbout the speaker
Alan MacEachern teaches History at the University of Western Ontario. He has written extensively on Canadian environmental history, most recently The Miramichi Fire: A History (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020). He and Ed MacDonald will publish The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island later this year. His favorite project is his next project.