Diane is an experienced public speaker and has
presented more than 150 public lectures and
workshops—at colleges and universities, libraries,
historical and genealogical groups, museums and
bookstores, and on TV and radio programs. Her lively
programs include:
“The Naked Quaker and other Tales from the Courthouse”
Diane brings New England history to life with true court
cases—amusing, poignant, shocking—about our feisty
colonial ancestors. In the title story, a Quaker woman
walks into Puritan Sunday meeting and drops her dress as
a protest tactic. Another case features the
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great
grandfather of President Obama!
“Finding Your Ancestors in Court Records”
Court
records offer a wealth of information for tracing
ancestors and regional history, but these valuable
resources remain underutilized. Learn how to find and
use court records—from the 17th to 21st
centuries—in courthouses, archives, books, microfilm and
the latest computer sources. |
 |
“Scots for Sale"
The English Civil War brought hundreds of
Scottish prisoners to New England in the mid
1600s. These captive Scotsmen, sold to English
colonists, labored at the Massachusetts
ironworks, at sawmills in New Hampshire and
Maine, and at towns and farms throughout the
region. Diane reveals the surprising story of
these unwilling exiles.
“The Many Faces of Early Colonial Slavery: True Stories from New England”
Diane traces the lives of forgotten African Americans and other people enslaved in colonial New England during the 17th and early 18th centuries. These surprising true stories, drawn from research in unpublished court records and little-known archives, reveal new perspectives on northern slavery and race relations.
In
addition to these topics, Diane will prepare
customized talks or in-depth workshops
tailored to the interests of your audience.
Please contact
Diane
for more information.
|
What
Audience Members are Saying:
“Thank you for presenting your wonderful
program,
The Naked
Quaker. All of us in the audience
came away with a clearer understanding of
crime and punishment as practiced in the 17th
century, as well as a deeper appreciation
for our current judicial system!”
— Jane M. Hennedy, Director,
Old Colony
Historical Society,
Taunton, Mass.
|
“What a hit you were! Our attendees were
enthralled with “The Naked Quaker” and your
presentation. Thank you, Ms. Rapaport, for all
that you did to make our 2008 Series such a
resounding success.”
- Sara Murphy,
Program
and
Publicity, Sweetser
Lecture
Series,
Wakefield,
Mass.
|
“Many thanks for your visit to the Library and
your thoroughly interesting and engaging
discussion of the crimes and controversies of
our colonial past. As they say, “the more things
change….”
- Anne C. Peters, Director of
External
Relations,
Social
Law
Library, Boston, Mass.
|
“Thank you for a fabulous program last month at
Forbes Library! The crowd loved it and we can’t keep
your book on the shelf.”
– Julie H. Bartlett, Archivist,
Forbes
Library,
Northampton, Mass.
|
“I can’t tell you how much your wonderful
presentations enriched our understanding of the 17th
century, and this site. Your research was focused
and passionately presented, and we were thrilled to
have you.”
-
Bethany Groff, North Shore Regional Site
Manager, Historic
New
England, Spencer-Peirce-
Little Farm, Newbury,
Mass.
|
|
“You're
a wonderful speaker—lively, interesting, articulate, and
enthusiastic. It was a real pleasure for me to listen to
you and I know others felt the same because they told me
so.”
— Laurie Beckelman, President,
Women’s National Book Association
|
“That was a memorable talk last night. Thank you so
much. Your multimedia material was excellent and I for
one felt that I was back in the 17th Century.”
—
Jonathan Frank,
Scots’ Charitable Society of
Boston
|
|
“Diane, I was very much impressed with your presentation
and your knowledge of the facts. The audience was
obviously engaged. A terrific job.”
—
Malcolm Hamilton, who attended lecture at the 2005 New
England Regional Genealogical Conference, Portland,
Maine
|
“What
a delightful and informative evening you gave us. I
appreciated the clearness of your illustrations—the
first time I had seen a presentation with PowerPoint
slides. We all learned something last night thanks to
all your work.”
—
Jean
Nall, President, Wrentham (Mass.)
Historical
Society
|
|
“A
wonderful way to begin the Dublin Seminar. Your elegant
visuals during your presentation have made me vow to
transform my classroom lectures. Your well-chosen images
focused hearers’ attention excellently; you were a hard
act to follow!”
— Ruth
Herndon, Associate Professor of History, University of
Toledo, after the 2003 Dublin Seminar for New England
Folklife in Deerfield, Mass.
|
|
|
