Zachary Bennett
@zmbennett.bsky.social
Asst. History Professor at Norwich University in Vermont. Writing about rivers and all that flow through them.
www.zmbennett.com
www.zmbennett.com
Pinned
Contested Currents – Penn Press
www.pennpress.org
My book has a (preliminary) page @pennpress.bsky.social ! Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England will be published in October 2026. www.pennpress.org/978151283015...
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
“In an average year, some two hundred million tons of sediment are in transport in the river. This is where the foreland Rockies go, the western Appalachians. Southern Louisiana is a very large lump of mountain butter…”
-John McPhee, The Control of Nature
-John McPhee, The Control of Nature
December 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
“In an average year, some two hundred million tons of sediment are in transport in the river. This is where the foreland Rockies go, the western Appalachians. Southern Louisiana is a very large lump of mountain butter…”
-John McPhee, The Control of Nature
-John McPhee, The Control of Nature
Good article from on language revitalization efforts among the Passamaquoddy Indians in eastern Maine.
www.pressherald.com?p=7550180&uu...
www.pressherald.com?p=7550180&uu...
To fight loss, Passamaquoddy speakers are talking new life into their language
Elders say it's not too late to save their mother tongue, and a younger generation is stepping up to help.
www.pressherald.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Good article from on language revitalization efforts among the Passamaquoddy Indians in eastern Maine.
www.pressherald.com?p=7550180&uu...
www.pressherald.com?p=7550180&uu...
My book has a (preliminary) page @pennpress.bsky.social ! Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England will be published in October 2026. www.pennpress.org/978151283015...
Contested Currents – Penn Press
www.pennpress.org
December 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
My book has a (preliminary) page @pennpress.bsky.social ! Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England will be published in October 2026. www.pennpress.org/978151283015...
It was an opportunity for historians to interact with the public and bring their work out of the ivory tower. But their exodus to this highly censored echo chamber site reveals that historians prefer the protection of the ivory tower, and that they would rather talk AT the public than with them.
Working on something about what Twitter meant to historians - what was good/not good about it for the profession, in relation to the general crisis of academic history / the profession, etc., the cratering of the university. What was #twitterhistory at its best? What were its failures? 🗃️
December 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
It was an opportunity for historians to interact with the public and bring their work out of the ivory tower. But their exodus to this highly censored echo chamber site reveals that historians prefer the protection of the ivory tower, and that they would rather talk AT the public than with them.
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
Proud to say, my former PhD student Jack Bouchard, now at Rutgers University, has published an outstanding new work in Atlantic history: *Terra Nova: Food, Water, and Work in an Early Atlantic World*, with Yale University Press. Congratulations, Jack!
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
December 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Proud to say, my former PhD student Jack Bouchard, now at Rutgers University, has published an outstanding new work in Atlantic history: *Terra Nova: Food, Water, and Work in an Early Atlantic World*, with Yale University Press. Congratulations, Jack!
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
This is how you blurb
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
This is how you blurb
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
Save the Date! Details coming soon.
October 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Save the Date! Details coming soon.
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
assistant professor, associate professor, grad student
October 7, 2025 at 1:35 AM
assistant professor, associate professor, grad student
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
‘Nickname’ is not ‘nick’ + ‘name.’
It was originally ‘ekename.’
‘Eke’ was the Middle English word for “also” or “in addition.”
Since ‘ekename’ began with a vowel, people used ‘an’ before it.
Over time, 'an ekename' became 'a nickname.'
It was originally ‘ekename.’
‘Eke’ was the Middle English word for “also” or “in addition.”
Since ‘ekename’ began with a vowel, people used ‘an’ before it.
Over time, 'an ekename' became 'a nickname.'
September 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
‘Nickname’ is not ‘nick’ + ‘name.’
It was originally ‘ekename.’
‘Eke’ was the Middle English word for “also” or “in addition.”
Since ‘ekename’ began with a vowel, people used ‘an’ before it.
Over time, 'an ekename' became 'a nickname.'
It was originally ‘ekename.’
‘Eke’ was the Middle English word for “also” or “in addition.”
Since ‘ekename’ began with a vowel, people used ‘an’ before it.
Over time, 'an ekename' became 'a nickname.'
Big conservation news on Maine's Kennebec River! The Nature Conservancy has reached an agreement with Brookfield Renewable to purchase 4 dams on prime sea-run fish spawning habitat. #envhst
www.nature.org/en-us/about-...
www.nature.org/en-us/about-...
Restoring Balance to the Kennebec River
An innovative agreement sets the stage for TNC and partners to restore the river’s ecological health while strengthening the region’s economic vitality.
www.nature.org
September 23, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Big conservation news on Maine's Kennebec River! The Nature Conservancy has reached an agreement with Brookfield Renewable to purchase 4 dams on prime sea-run fish spawning habitat. #envhst
www.nature.org/en-us/about-...
www.nature.org/en-us/about-...
This new land will be used to forward the Penobscot Tribe of Maine's first priority: restoring Atlantic Salmon runs.
www.pressherald.com/2025/09/16/p...
www.pressherald.com/2025/09/16/p...
Penobscot Nation to reclaim 1,700 acres in rural Maine as tribe grows land holdings
The Appalachian Mountain Club is repatriating the parcel to its former Indigenous stewards as part of a larger acquisition finalized Tuesday.
www.pressherald.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
This new land will be used to forward the Penobscot Tribe of Maine's first priority: restoring Atlantic Salmon runs.
www.pressherald.com/2025/09/16/p...
www.pressherald.com/2025/09/16/p...
French fashion and the devil go hand in hand.
#OTD September 15, 1692, Stephen Johnson confirmed his pact with Satan, as well as his love for French fashion: "he was to have of the Devil for his Service...a pair of French fall Shoes"
September 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM
French fashion and the devil go hand in hand.
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
#OTD September 11, 1692, in Salem Village Reverend Samuel Parris preaches on Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them."
September 11, 2025 at 11:48 PM
#OTD September 11, 1692, in Salem Village Reverend Samuel Parris preaches on Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them."
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
Atlantic sunset: “as everyone knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever” saith Herman Melville.
August 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Atlantic sunset: “as everyone knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever” saith Herman Melville.
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
There is truly no “getting high on your own supply” quite like writing a proposal for research funding.
August 5, 2025 at 12:08 AM
There is truly no “getting high on your own supply” quite like writing a proposal for research funding.
Happy to announce that I've signed a contract with UPenn Press for my book Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England.
Also...I've submitted my revised manuscript and that after several years the final product will hopefully be out in the world sooner than later!
Also...I've submitted my revised manuscript and that after several years the final product will hopefully be out in the world sooner than later!
July 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Happy to announce that I've signed a contract with UPenn Press for my book Contested Currents: Rivers and the Remaking of New England.
Also...I've submitted my revised manuscript and that after several years the final product will hopefully be out in the world sooner than later!
Also...I've submitted my revised manuscript and that after several years the final product will hopefully be out in the world sooner than later!
"Between 2010 and 2024, at least 170 dams were removed in this region...That’s more than double the number of removals during most of the preceding century."
Great to see dam removal and river restoration highlighted in the @csmonitor!
#envhst
www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/a...
Great to see dam removal and river restoration highlighted in the @csmonitor!
#envhst
www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/a...
Go, fish. How removing old New England dams is opening rivers to new wildlife. - CSMonitor.com
www.csmonitor.com
July 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
"Between 2010 and 2024, at least 170 dams were removed in this region...That’s more than double the number of removals during most of the preceding century."
Great to see dam removal and river restoration highlighted in the @csmonitor!
#envhst
www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/a...
Great to see dam removal and river restoration highlighted in the @csmonitor!
#envhst
www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/a...
A very cool map of the Chesapeake from Edward Williams' 1650 book Virginia
June 19, 2025 at 3:13 PM
A very cool map of the Chesapeake from Edward Williams' 1650 book Virginia
Reposted by Zachary Bennett
New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays.
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
June 18, 2025 at 7:32 AM
New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays.
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn.
arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...
This book is a classic.
Now on sale only $10, 50% off! My first book, and still the only book on Native communities in Massachusetts during the century between King Philip’s War and the American Revolution. Use 6SUMM25 discount code at check out, good until July 31. www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska-pap...
Behind the Frontier - Nebraska Press
Behind the Frontier tells the story of the Indians in Massachusetts as English settlements encroached on their traditional homeland between 1675 and 1775, fr...
www.nebraskapress.unl.edu
June 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This book is a classic.
Observation: nearly all states that were founded by the English have Anglicized names, but nearly all states founded or incorporated by the USA have Native American names. Is there an explanation for this? #vastearlyamerica
June 16, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Observation: nearly all states that were founded by the English have Anglicized names, but nearly all states founded or incorporated by the USA have Native American names. Is there an explanation for this? #vastearlyamerica
More academic leadership positions should come with talismans
Last night I became president of the Mormon History Association, a 60yo scholarly society devoted to the academic study of Mormonism’s many pasts. While it comes with lots of duties and work, it also comes with a seer stone, which I’d argue is the best presidential totem among academic orgs.
June 11, 2025 at 3:20 PM
More academic leadership positions should come with talismans
I had to confront someone in the gym today for writing in a library book, in gross disregard for all that is decent and holy.
two men are having a conversation with the caption well i got a flash for ya
ALT: two men are having a conversation with the caption well i got a flash for ya
media.tenor.com
June 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I had to confront someone in the gym today for writing in a library book, in gross disregard for all that is decent and holy.
New Englanders were the first to build dams, and they have been the first to tear them down. The resurrection of Maine's Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers over the last 50 years is an incredible story. #envhist
www.pressherald.com/2025/05/30/a...
www.pressherald.com/2025/05/30/a...
Androscoggin River, once a ‘national disgrace’, should be recognized for clean-up efforts, advocates say
Advocates propose reclassifying the water quality of the river from Rumford to Lisbon — a move they say could spark economic growth.
www.pressherald.com
May 30, 2025 at 2:19 PM
New Englanders were the first to build dams, and they have been the first to tear them down. The resurrection of Maine's Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers over the last 50 years is an incredible story. #envhist
www.pressherald.com/2025/05/30/a...
www.pressherald.com/2025/05/30/a...
To this day, very few in Portland, ME (where I grew up) know about this event. Only a small plaque denotes the location of the heap of 200 bodies--still nobody knows where those people were buried.
#OTD May 20, 1690, Fort Loyal falls in Maine to a combined French and Native force. Over 200 English are killed or captured. The incident made it into the Salem witch trial testimony of Thomas Hardy, who was part of a relief force who arrived too late to help. salem.lib.virginia.edu/n92.html#n92...
SWP No. 092: Susannah Martin Executed July 19, 1692 - New Salem - Pelican
salem.lib.virginia.edu
May 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
To this day, very few in Portland, ME (where I grew up) know about this event. Only a small plaque denotes the location of the heap of 200 bodies--still nobody knows where those people were buried.