When Americans landed on the Moon in 1969, in the northeastern U.S. there were still workers cutting trees with axes, skidding with horses, and driving logs to the mill by river.
The Forest History Society will hold a Cutover Capitalism: The Industrialization of the Northern Forest webinar on September 9th at 1 pm EDT.
It wasn’t the chainsaw and the feller-buncher that industrialized American logging. The power of nature did. Starting around 1870, bodies and forest landscapes were used in new and sometimes ingenious ways to move the second- and even third-growth trees from stump to mill, ultimately sustaining forest products production for nearly a century.
In this webinar, historian Jason Newton will describe this unique process of industrialization. He will explore how a lumberjack class formed in relation to the seasonal cycles of the forest and why these seemingly primitive technologies lasted until surprisingly recently. Join us for a discussion of logging technology that will challenge commonly held ideas of the working class, industrialization, and capitalism.
For his talk Jason will draw from archival research conducted at FHS as well as historical images and videos.
To take part in this webinar, register at Webinar Registration – Zoom