On May 4 at 7 p.m., Shepherd University Assistant Professor of History Benjamin Bankhurst will speak on “The French and Indian War: The Impact upon the Scots Irish in Appalachia and Ireland.” The talk will be in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education, located on King Street on Shepherd’s Campus.

The talk is part of the Historic Shepherdstown Commission’s 2016 Speakers Series. It is free to the public.

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was part of a global conflict fought between France and Britain to establish mastery over the North American interior. It brought devastation to the European settlements along the breadth of the Appalachian frontier. The Scots Irish were the largest European ethnic group in the British backcountry when the war began and thus bore the brunt of civilian casualties. News from the bleeding frontiers shocked and deeply touched those Irish counties from which many of the victims had originated. Bankhurst will examine how news of the struggles of Scots Irish settlers resonated among Irish communities with family links to the Appalachian frontier and the Shenandoah Valley.

Bankhurst comes from London where he was a guest teacher at the London School of Economics, a visiting lecturer at King’s College London, a visiting lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University and a visiting lecturer at the Florida State University London Study Centre.

For further information, contact Historic Shepherdstown Administrator Teresa McLaughlin, 304-876-0910 on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday or e-mail info@historicshepherdstown.com.