<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right;tab-stops:center 3.25in"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Myriad Pro Semibold'" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 23px;">
<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;tab-stops:center 3.25in"><span style="font-size:17.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro Semibold";mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Sahin Seminar Series<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;tab-stops:center 3.25in"><span style="font-size:17.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro Semibold";mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold;mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: auto;margin-left: 4.3pt; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Century Schoolbook'" size="6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 23px;"><b><i><br></i></b></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: auto;margin-left: 4.3pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; "><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>“The People Debate the Constitution: An American Story,
1787-1788”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-left:4.3pt;text-align:center;
tab-stops:center 3.25in"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro""><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:.25in;text-align:center;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:20.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";color:#AB0000">Pauline Maier, MIT History
Faculty<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:.25in;text-align:center;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">When the state convention
called to ratify or reject the proposed federal Constitution convened in Boston
on January 9, 1788, five states had already voted to ratify. Only four more
states had to ratify for the Constitution to go into effect, but its fate remained
doubtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The two chapters being
circulated for this work-in-progress seminar tell the landmark story of the
Massachusetts convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They are
from the manuscript of a book, to be published next year by Simon and Schuster,
that will be the first to tell the story of the Constitution’s ratification by
focusing on the elected state conventions where the decisions to ratify (or
not) were actually made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Pauline Maier will open the seminar by talking about the project in
general, including the challenge of writing narratives and the sometimes
revolutionary opportunities opened by published (or digitized) document
collections.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:.25in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:.25in;text-align:center;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:
"Myriad Pro";color:#AB0000">Thursday, November 12, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:
"Myriad Pro";color:#AB0000">4:30 – 6 PM<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center;
mso-outline-level:1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";color:#AB0000">Building E51
Room 275<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center;
mso-outline-level:1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";color:#AB0000">Corner of
Wadsworth and Amherst Streets, Cambridge</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";color:maroon"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center;
mso-outline-level:1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";
color:navy"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center;
mso-outline-level:1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:6.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro";
color:navy"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro"">Free and open to the public. For
more information or to be put on the mailing list, please contact <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Myriad Pro"">Margo </span><a href="mailto:Collett@mcollett@mit.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:
"Myriad Pro"">Collett@mcollett@mit.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Myriad Pro"">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This
event is sponsored by MIT’s History Faculty.</span></span></span></p>
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