Author Leila Philip to Discuss Best-Selling Book BEAVERLAND at the Seaport Museum

Join the Seaport Museum and award-winning author Leila Philip for a talk focusing on her best-selling book Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, which investigates the fascinating role that beavers had in the history of Manahatta and their enduring contributions to the past, present, and future of New York Harbor.

In this program, Philip will trace the profound influence of these furry creatures on the nation's early economy, western expansion, and the development of early transatlantic trade. In addition to economic contributions, Philip will describe how beavers continue to impact river and harbor ecology.

Sign up today to learn how these often overlooked animals, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Advanced registration is suggested for this free event but walkups will be accommodated as possible. seaportmuseum.org/beaverland

Q&A and reception with complimentary beverages will follow. The New York Times Editors' Choice, Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America, will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

This program takes place on the 'tweendeck below the main deck of Wavertree, which is not a temperature-controlled environment. Please dress accordingly.

About the Author

Leila Philip is the author of award-winning books of nonfiction that chronicle diverse, personal journeys. In The Road Through Miyama, Philip, already fluent in Japanese and a potter, traveled to Japan to apprentice to a master potter in southern Kyushu. A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family, took her much closer to home (literally), and weaves the history of the Hudson valley farm where she spent her childhood with a revealing account of what's involved in cultivating orchards. Both books received awards, and glowing national reviews. A Guggenheim Fellow, Leila has also been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She works across genres, publishing poetry, essays, and theatrical script and is currently at work on a documentary film. She was a popular contributing columnist at the Boston Globe and teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at the College of the Holy Cross where she is a professor in the English Department, where she holds the Brooks Chair in the Humanities.

Extend Your Visit

Access to Wavertree is included with your free event ticket. To extend your visit and see more that the Museum has to offer, ask Museum staff about our Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets when you check in. Before or after your event, between 11am-5pm, get Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets to see more of the Museum.

General Admission includes access to all current exhibitions on view in the introduction gallery space at 12 Fulton Street and access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree. Free timed tickets for a tour of the 1908 lightship Ambrose are available separately at no additional cost. seaportmuseum.org/general-admission